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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not understand why we have now got rid of isolation for household members?

219 replies

AlexaShutUp · 25/08/2021 22:29

Sorry if there is already a thread on this, but isn't it a bit crazy to be sending children into school when their parents and/or siblings have tested positive for covid?Confused

I totally get that the pinging was getting too much and I am OK with a lot of rules being relaxed as we have to get back to some kind of normality at some stage, but surely it isn't unreasonable for members of the same household to carry on isolating. Isn't it going to spread like wildfire as soon as schools open up?

It just seems crazy...

OP posts:
CirqueDeMorgue · 25/08/2021 23:04

Because covid will have to be treated like any other illness sooner or later. And no, we shouldn't go to work or school when we're unwell but we do because we risk our jobs otherwise.

Clocktopus · 25/08/2021 23:04

I go to work when I’m ill because I don’t get paid otherwise, and statutory sick pay is a joke.

And that's part of the presentee-ism culture, employers who don't provide a proper sick pay package which forces employees to attend work when ill.

Original poster
AlexaShutUp · 25/08/2021 23:04

For me that means back to completely normal pre Covid times.

But how is that learning to live with it if we are not making any adaptations at all? That's just living with it and saying to hell with the consequences, isn't it? And to hell with anyone who is still vulnerable to be honest? I don't really see much learning of any sort in that.

I guess what people really mean when they say that we have to learn to live with it is that others must learn to accept the risk so that they can carry on with their lives without disruption.

OP posts:
AngeloMysterioso · 25/08/2021 23:04

You don’t place a whole family under house arrest if one of them has flu, and that kills many thousands of people per year.

SuperCaliFragalistic · 25/08/2021 23:07

@SmidgenofaPigeon

I don’t come to work ill because I’m ‘a good little martyr’.

I go to work when I’m ill because I don’t get paid otherwise, and statutory sick pay is a joke.

Exactly that. I go to work when I'm under the weather because my employers (I'm a civil servant) sickness policy demands it. My children go to school with a cold because its government policy not to keep children home unless strictly necessary. Maybe this is what needs to change? Not bubbles and masks but an attitude to illness and wellness that promotes healthy behaviours.
Brighterblighter · 25/08/2021 23:10

I agree op, I'm behind getting back to work normal but at the back of my mind is the ever present threat of of needing a hospital and having no access because it's full of covid patients. Or being really ill with covid and getting no help?

Does getting sbck to normal mean.. Without a health care system?

maddening · 25/08/2021 23:11

For passing contacts I totally agree that scrapping isolation is the right thing.

But households should definitely isolate imo.

Lou98 · 25/08/2021 23:12

@AngeloMysterioso

You don’t place a whole family under house arrest if one of them has flu, and that kills many thousands of people per year.

This^

The logic is that kids have missed enough of their education over the last year and a half.

Many adults aren't getting paid to isolate anymore and simply can't afford it.

To me "learning to live with it" - means taking sensible precautions (practicing good hygiene etc) but accepting that kids need to learn and adults need to work to pay the bills.

It's not going anywhere soon, how long are people supposed to keep staying indoors - another few weeks, months or years?

Also, there is a coronavirus topic for threads exactly like this

Nousernameforme · 25/08/2021 23:14

I was just thinking this same thing. What do I do if say DP or I test positive and youngest dc has to go to school. I know there is at least one CV dc in the class, also what about people coming to the home. We have tutor visits to our home several times a week, it seems like madness for that to continue and a sure fire way to spread covid

Brighterblighter · 25/08/2021 23:14

Flu puts the NHS under incredible strain each winter.. People can wait for endless hours in ambulances waiting to get into a and e...

Covid hits is worse?

That's all I'm worried about... Us needing the hospital and its not there

icelollycraving · 25/08/2021 23:15

Our company sick pay has just changed with regard to Covid. With the previous guidelines, it was full pay for the person with Covid and the team requiring isolation. This caused some discord due to some people still being part furloughed with the same workload into shorter hours. Now it’s changed to company sick pay which is 5 days a year or ssp.
The reality is if someone has minor symptoms they won’t test and will continue to work. The people who get a bit preachy about companies needing to pay sick pay are not really helpful. Most of the working people I know get limited sick pay or ssp except my friends in government paid jobs.
It is going to escalate. How could it not?

Brighterblighter · 25/08/2021 23:16

And flu isn't as transmits

CoffeeTopUp · 25/08/2021 23:16

Children have missed out on a lot of time in school but asking children to stay home if someone in the household has covid is a step down from whole bubbles isolating. Long term, if things don’t improve, we could end up locking down again. Why not take precautions now to prevent being in a worse situation down the line.

Also, one child isolating could prevent them spreading the virus to X number of children in the school meaning fewer children miss out on education in the long run.

Jaxhog · 25/08/2021 23:19

@AlexaShutUp

I’d rather live with some precautions so others can live with a little less fear.

Totally agree.

I agree too. After all, we have precautions for other things like drug rules, seatbelts, traffic lights, etc.
Bearfrills · 25/08/2021 23:24

at the back of my mind is the ever present threat of of needing a hospital and having no access because it's full of covid patients. Or being really ill with covid and getting no help?

DS had an accident and had a suspected broken arm, we got sent to children's A&E. At children's A&E we got turned away because they had a lot of children attending who had covid and so it was a 9-10 hour wait minimum for all other cases. We had to go to another hospital, further away, which only had an on-call doctor and no paediatric provision.

DD has a kidney condition and we have a list of symptoms where if she has any of them we need to go to A&E. Her consultant rang me this week to inform me that if she has them we need to go directly to the hospital where they are based (15 miles away) rather than the nearest A&E (2 miles away) because they won't have capacity for her at A&E.

CoffeeTopUp · 25/08/2021 23:32

@Bearfrills

at the back of my mind is the ever present threat of of needing a hospital and having no access because it's full of covid patients. Or being really ill with covid and getting no help?

DS had an accident and had a suspected broken arm, we got sent to children's A&E. At children's A&E we got turned away because they had a lot of children attending who had covid and so it was a 9-10 hour wait minimum for all other cases. We had to go to another hospital, further away, which only had an on-call doctor and no paediatric provision.

DD has a kidney condition and we have a list of symptoms where if she has any of them we need to go to A&E. Her consultant rang me this week to inform me that if she has them we need to go directly to the hospital where they are based (15 miles away) rather than the nearest A&E (2 miles away) because they won't have capacity for her at A&E.

It’s this sort of thing that people don’t understand or even think about because it doesn’t affect them. They think they’ll probably get a mild version of covid so won’t need hospital treatment for that, don’t have any ongoing need for hospital treatment so they just don’t consider the impact the continuing spread of the virus is having on hospitals and patients who need to access medical care for Covid or otherwise.
Sweettea1 · 25/08/2021 23:33

@AlexaShutUp

DD is back in school this week and we already know that at least one of her classmates has covid at home. I am not very happy with that but I guess we just have to accept it. 🤷
Not happy with what? The child being at home sick away from others or that your child can still go to school Confused
Lou98 · 25/08/2021 23:35

@Sweettea1 I assume that poster means the child that has covid at home will be going to school even though still within the isolation period, which is what she's not happy with. (Could be wrong but that's how I read it)

Sweettea1 · 25/08/2021 23:38

I do agree if a household member has covid then household should isolate I think there is more chance catching it then. I don't think bill from the back of the classroom should isolate because sue from the front tested positive tho.

Original poster
AlexaShutUp · 25/08/2021 23:40

Not happy with what? The child being at home sick away from others or that your child can still go to school

Not happy with my dd very likely being sat in close contact in a poorly ventilated room with someone who lives in a household where someone has covid and is therefore at a high risk of transmitting the virus. It seems an unnecessary risk to me.

If dh or I got covid and dd had to isolate to protect other people, I would be perfectly happy with that. If the virus rips through schools, it's likely that lots of the kids will end up having to take time off in any case. I would rather that a kid isolates when household members test positive than wait for them all to get sick.

OP posts:
BluebellsGreenbells · 25/08/2021 23:41

The biggest issue is people don’t understand what isolation actually means. Some are letting kids play together and sending the other child to school. (I know that’s difficult to separate one, but that surely should be a “rule”)

The other issue is if kids get COVID then the parents need to be at home to look after them, meaning school teachers won’t eagle to wrk anyway.

What the government are trying to do, is make employers responsible for works, so the must pay for isolation (or not) they should pay for LFT if they want them, they must accommodate parents who’s children are ill etc

DH work place insist WFH is there’s COVID at home, they also insist on LFT twice weekly, they also have banned those returning fro abroad retuning to the office without negative LFT/PCR test etc

Others will follow.

Sweettea1 · 25/08/2021 23:41

@Lou98 The child with covid still has to isolate so won't be at school untill isolation period ends. The rest off the class can still go to school.

Original poster
AlexaShutUp · 25/08/2021 23:43

@Sweettea1

I do agree if a household member has covid then household should isolate I think there is more chance catching it then. I don't think bill from the back of the classroom should isolate because sue from the front tested positive tho.
That's not what I'm saying though. I'm saying that Bill from the back of the classroom should isolate when there is a positive case in his household in order to reduce the risk of Sue and his other classmates getting the virus and all having to isolate further down the line.
OP posts:
Lou98 · 25/08/2021 23:43

@Sweettea1 as she explained, it's not the child that has covid. Someone in the child's household has covid but the child is allowed to go to school under these rules and is in her DDs class

BluebellsGreenbells · 25/08/2021 23:43

COVID at home means the child has family members who’ve tested positive and isolating but the child attends schools having been exposed to the virus ans being a close contact and sitting next to OPs daughter.

Swipe left for the next trending thread