Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask for self isolation advice when 150 miles away from home.

27 replies

Slidy · 09/07/2021 23:02

Does anyone know WTF I should do? Just been pinged by the bloody app and told to self isolate but I’m in a hotel 150 miles from home. There’s no info on the app about this situation. I can’t go back on the train presumably. I can’t afford to stay in this hotel for a 8 days and I have no childcare at home after tomorrow either. Can anyone point me toward any advice at all which might be helpful?

OP posts:
Twilow · 09/07/2021 23:10

You need to go home. Wear a mask.

Marianicka · 09/07/2021 23:12

I would travel home first thing tomorrow, by train as you have no other option. Then isolate. What other choice do you have?

But then delete the bloody app and only linger in the company of people who you know well enough to know that they would phone and tell you if they tested positive.

SingingGoldfinch · 09/07/2021 23:12

Agree. Put on a mask and go home.

DirtySofa · 09/07/2021 23:13

Honestly, I can’t believe you didn’t think this might be a possibility when you went away - and kept the tracking on the app on. Have a look to see when the exposure was. If you think “I was nowhere near anyone else at that time” ignore it.

osbertthesyrianhamster · 09/07/2021 23:15

Go home on the train. The app isn't fit for purpose.

Lockheart · 09/07/2021 23:18

The app is advisory, not legally binding.

Wear a mask, take the train home, and avoid people as much as possible (can you travel at a different time so it's quieter, for example?).

Order some LFTs and take them too.

ArchbishopOfBanterbury · 09/07/2021 23:20

I'd go home, and isolate there. If it has to be by train, sit by an open window, social distance and mask up.

Original poster
Slidy · 09/07/2021 23:27

Honestly I haven’t thought about the app for months. I was surprised when it pinged. I want to do the responsible thing but I cannot see any sensible way out of this.

OP posts:
Original poster
Slidy · 09/07/2021 23:30

Can you see any details of where you were in proximity to someone? I’ve been using trains this week but have been super careful with a FFP2 mask so feel it’s unlikely I could have caught it like that.

OP posts:
Mistressofnone · 09/07/2021 23:35

I got pinged today too for the first time! It indicates that I came into contact with someone on Sunday. The only place I went was to the park near my house. I was pushing the pram constantly and didn't stay within 2m of any randoms, definitely not for 15 mins or more. The only person I was with was my mother and she hasn't had an alert.
I'm putting it down to an app error I'm afraid. Will take rapid flow test daily out of courtesy.

Grenlei · 09/07/2021 23:41

And this is exactly why I haven't got the bloody app.

As pp have said, being pinged is not like being contacted by the Test and Trace people, the app is only advisory.

Just travel home as presumably you were intending to tomorrow anyway, wear a mask on trains as required and social distance as much as you can. And switch off the app and leave it off...

Original poster
Slidy · 09/07/2021 23:41

Where can I see the bit about when I came into contact with someone?

OP posts:
TwoLeftElbows · 09/07/2021 23:41

If you are really worried about travelling home then you could go to a pharmacy, get some LFTs, and do one of those before travelling. It's not a guarantee but if you test negative on the morning you travel, I think the chances that you have caught covid and would successfully pass it on in a sensible, rule abiding trip home that day must be tiny.

Ifonlyidknownthen · 09/07/2021 23:42

Ignore said ping and go home, they are dodgy and unreliable as soon those pings

EasterIssland · 09/07/2021 23:44

@Slidy

Where can I see the bit about when I came into contact with someone?
How many days do you have to isolate? Add as many days up to 10 and the. You’ll know when was the contact meant to happen. Think what you did on that day. It won’t tell you where it was as I think it’s not allowed to keep track of locations but not 100% sure
Original poster
Slidy · 09/07/2021 23:48

Well then the app is completely wrong then because it says eight days and I didn’t leave the house on that day. It’s not possible to have become infected then.

OP posts:
Marianicka · 09/07/2021 23:59

It's ten full days of isolation after the contact. So the contact happened on day zero and the end of your isolation would be at 23.59 on the day 10. Does that help you work out when you might have caught it?

EasterIssland · 10/07/2021 07:39

@Slidy

Well then the app is completely wrong then because it says eight days and I didn’t leave the house on that day. It’s not possible to have become infected then.
That means 8 days you’ve to self isolate so the contact was 2-3 days ago
valnevavaxx · 10/07/2021 08:07

OP, if you go in settings and click other data it will tell you the exposure date.

In answer to your question just mask up and go home- I was pinged while I was at work in the office and I didn’t isolate in my office for 10 days. You’re allowed to travel home.

ApolloandDaphne · 10/07/2021 08:14

I would take a ping from the app with a pinch of salt and would just travel home by train. When home do regular LFTs to check.

Redcherries · 10/07/2021 08:49

My daughter had the same. she got the train home and wore a mask, stayed away from anyone.

Spandang · 10/07/2021 08:56

OP every hotel should have a procedure that they should follow in this instance. The guidance is here in section 3.5
www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/hotels-and-other-guest-accommodation

HalzTangz · 10/07/2021 09:09

Just ignore the app, its useless anyway and guidance only.
It's only if test and trace call you that you need to legally isolate

HalzTangz · 10/07/2021 09:15

@Slidy

Well then the app is completely wrong then because it says eight days and I didn’t leave the house on that day. It’s not possible to have become infected then.
The app can pick up your neighbours Bluetooth through a solid brick wall, and alert you despite you not being in any contact with them. How long have you been in the hotel, it's probably someone in the room next door
Maryis · 10/07/2021 10:18

As I didn't get pinged when my husband tested positive and had result on his app.. and we had been in close proximity (on the half hour drive to to the test centre if nothing else!) I'm not convinced on the app