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AIBU?

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Original poster

Been isolating for nearly a month......

69 replies

FlamingLama · 30/08/2021 09:59

Haven't left my house apart from urgent medical appointments. They're saying my covid test is still showing as positive. I'm literally losing the will to live here.......a month of being locked in doors and they want me to do another 10 days. I don't think I can take much more of this. I'm supposed to be having a baby in a week or 2. I have so much to get ready and I can't get anything finished. I did my 10 days, then another. Then another.
I've had enough. I feel like I'm going to crack up. How much longer can they expect someone to stay indoors? I have dutifully followed all their advice and they want me to do ANOTHER 10 days.

OP posts:
icedcoffees · 31/08/2021 17:22

@LittleBearPad

Absolutely *@Rozziie* so whilst a nurse watches the OP take the test (or even administers it) she’s meant to fake it every time she goes to hospital. Some actual medical advice based on fact might be more useful from the doctor
I think the doctor means that OP should "do a test" at home in such a way that it comes back negative and upload that result onto the app, meaning she can go about her life again.
IWasBornInAThunderstorm · 31/08/2021 17:25

Omg that's so barbaric of them. If they want you to fake a test they need to be clear! People won't necessarily catch on. Also it's so cruel anyway, they should be able to tell if someone's had it in 90 days there's no point.

ToykotoLosAngeles · 31/08/2021 17:27

But they keep testing her in hospital! Will they stop if she tests negative once?

TheyWentToSeaInASieve · 31/08/2021 17:27

May I ask what constitutes still having symptoms? It's been 16 days since my 10-year-old tested positive. He coughs a lot and still gets headaches. Would that make him infectious?

Seeline · 31/08/2021 17:30

Originally, if you no longer had a temperature you were considered to no longer be infectious. Don't know if that's changed.

TheyWentToSeaInASieve · 31/08/2021 17:34

Thank you @seeline. We are using LFT, they are all red within a few seconds. I didn't know about the dead cells shedding. Is there a good source of information on this?

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 31/08/2021 17:40

Originally, if you no longer had a temperature you were considered to no longer be infectious. Don't know if that's changed
Test and trace told ds if he isn't coughing and doesn't have a temp by day 10 then he can stop isolating.

Bexily · 31/08/2021 17:51

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

Originally, if you no longer had a temperature you were considered to no longer be infectious. Don't know if that's changed Test and trace told ds if he isn't coughing and doesn't have a temp by day 10 then he can stop isolating.
I'm isolating at the moment, after being tested as positive on Friday. Track and Trace told me, yesterday, that I had to isolate for the 10 days unless I still had a temp, runny nose, diarrhea or vomiting, if I have any of these symptoms I've got to isolate until they've gone. The cough can last for weeks as can loss of smell and taste.
Bexily · 31/08/2021 17:51

Sorry that should say 10 days then I can go out unless

TheyWentToSeaInASieve · 31/08/2021 19:01

Thanks all. We all still have a runny nose too, so I guess it should be longer.

OP, apologies for hijacking your thread. Your situation sounds so tricky.

dementedpixie · 31/08/2021 19:02

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

Originally, if you no longer had a temperature you were considered to no longer be infectious. Don't know if that's changed Test and trace told ds if he isn't coughing and doesn't have a temp by day 10 then he can stop isolating.
A cough can last for weeks so that isn't one of the symptoms that would extend isolation
MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 31/08/2021 19:03

@Bexily you've quoted me but I didn't say that. I agree though Grin

dementedpixie · 31/08/2021 19:05

From the link above:

When to stop self-isolating

You can stop self-isolating after the 10 days if either:

  • you do not have any symptoms
  • you just have a cough or changes to your sense of smell or taste – these can last for weeks after the infection has gone

When to keep self-isolating

Keep self-isolating if you have any of these symptoms after the 10 days:

  • a high temperature or feeling hot and shivery
  • a runny nose or sneezing
  • feeling or being sick
  • diarrhoea

Only stop self-isolating when these symptoms have gone.

If you have diarrhoea or you're being sick, stay at home until 48 hours after they've stopped.

IamnotSethRogan · 31/08/2021 19:06

You don't have to continue isolating is you are symptomless after your first period of isolation. Covid tests can show up positive for up to 90 days after recovery

FTEngineerM · 31/08/2021 19:07

I just had to hang up on TTP when they called I’ve found the whole thing incredibly frustrating.

Didn’t know if already been isolating and finished, got funny with me when I said I don’t have to isolate now. Even though gov website says exactly that, isolate from day 1 of symptoms to day 10. That’s it.

Midwife said don’t worry about me still testing positive it’s well known that it can remain in your system for 3 months. Care will still be provided as normal. I’m 38+3 today.

Original poster
FlamingLama · 07/09/2021 00:41

Sorry I haven't been online for a few days.

when I was in hospital they did the PCR tests on me so there was no way of me "making them" negative. I also didn't realise that they would come back positive for up to 3 months until people advised me on this thread. Following advice on here, I kept ignoring track and traces calls so they referred my case over to my local enforcement team!!! I got a call from them (on a local number so I answered thinking it might have been the hospital calling with an appointment) and they said no you must isolate, the system basically doesn't link up any past tests you have taken and every time they receive a positive result it is counted as a new case! He said basically the hospital got it wrong but I had to isolate on a technicality. When I challenged this he told me to call 119 and speak to the team there that deals with people contesting isolation.

So I called this team and the long and short of it was that they said I LEGALLY have to isolate and I would be liable for a fine if I didn't. Woman on the phone said the same as the man before, that the hospital shouldn't have tested me again but they couldn't overturn the result of the test, I even asked the woman what the point of her department was as they clearly can't over turn decisions and she said she didn't know!!!
I asked to complain, she wouldn't give me the details to complain, she told me to contact my local hospital and tell them they were "following the incorrect procedure!" and complain through the hospital. Can you imagine that conversation "Hello trained nurse, I am not a nurse.....you are doing your job wrong!"
They aren't going to listen to me! However I have passed comments on to PALS so I don't know if they are dealing with it now.
Like I say the whole thing is a massive mess and has really stressed me out. I have basically left the house for medical appointments only but to be fair those are practically every other day because I have a lot going on with the baby at the mo. I don't have very much energy because covid wiped me out so I didn't have any big plans or anything.....I just need stuff for the baby. I think I am free as of tomorrow so I am going to go to my local shopping centre and pick up my last bits. I am just so angry at the whole thing. It has been hugely stressful and I am still quite unwell from covid. My energy levels are in my boots and I am still having problems with my breathing. When I feel better I fully intend to take it all further.

OP posts:
Bluecurtains19 · 07/09/2021 10:44

What a rubbish situation to be in! Sorry that your update hasn’t been a more positive one.
I commented on this post previously as I’ve been a nurse on a covid ward for the past 18 months. My advice would be to refuse future PCRs when in hospital and explain it has been less than 90 days since your last positive test. They cannot refuse you care on this basis and worst case scenario foe you would mean while you are in hospital they treat you as if you are positive. However it wouldn’t impact you when you leave hospital therefore I wouldn’t worry.
I’d also refer everything through PALS, it will help feed everything back to the department your care is under so they are aware of what to do in this situation in the future.
Also - personal opinion - test and trace are as useful as a chocolate teapot. Just ignore any future phone calls from them.

ATieLikeRichardGere · 10/09/2021 22:51

So sorry this happened to you! I really hope that’s you free now and all goes well with the baby and you start to feel better.

If you will permit, I just want to say I think this is why systems like vaccine passports need challenging. When they work, great, but when things go wrong and you get these unfixable, unfightable computer-says-no I’m-just-doing-my-job scenarios, bad things happen to vulnerable people.

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