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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I just walked out of work over covid.

245 replies

organisedmother · 15/12/2021 13:12

When I arrived to work this morning my colleague told me that her friend she was with yesterday had just tested positive for covid and she has done a lft herself and was negative, she hasn’t done a pcr. I work in a very small space with no windows if she has picked up covid I’m more than likely going to get it from her as we share a till, toilet, fridge microwave in such a small space.

I said maybe she should of stayed home until she got a negative pcr, she was with this friend in her house having a drink,no masks of corse, windows shut, I feel like there is a 50/50 chance she will more than likely pick this up.

With Christmas so close and the schools finishing this week I thought is this worth the risk for a 3 hour shift when I could potentially pick this up and spread to my family.

I decided to go home and she said she understood their was a risk and is fine with it.

I feel a little guilty now, but I just keep thinking of the points…

-With her friend in a house chatting who has covid.
-we have no windows so are breathing each others air
-sharing everything at work
-schools closing tomorrow
-Xmas
-only lost out on £30

The nightmare and hassle it would of been if she does have it and I pick it up would of been catastrophic!

Would you of stayed or been out the door

OP posts:
SmellyOldPartridgeinaPearTree · 15/12/2021 18:20

@MorningStarling

I have to laugh at the people who say she's doing nothing wrong because she's following the legal guidance. Do you all trust Boris and the Tories to have got the measures right? Weird because everyone seems to hate them at the minute and thinks they're completely untrustworthy!

I have faith in the scientists who are advising the government.

GreenNewDealNow · 15/12/2021 18:25

I would have done the same as you and left

ThePenIsBlue · 15/12/2021 18:25

🤷‍♀️ there is more of a chance than not that if you caught it (assuming you aren’t vulnerable) you’d literally have a cold. So I’d have stayed, and if I got a headache or a sniffy nose following I just wouldn’t test and go about my life. 🤷‍♀️ If I took a lateral flow for my own interest and it was positive, I’d put it in the bin and continue as normal.
we can’t keep dancing this ridiculous dance for ever more.

Inastatus · 15/12/2021 18:27

@SmellyOldPartridgeinaPearTree - I also trust the scientists. Do people really think Boris & Co have come up with all these measures themselves?!

ClaudiaJ1 · 15/12/2021 18:36

@FatBettyintheCoop

YANBU OP.

If she had an ounce of common sense, she wouldn’t have gone into work today.

The rules in England are a complete joke. So glad I no longer live there.

This. The lackadaisical and 'the government doesn't require us to do more than that, so it's ok' attitudes on this thread are absolutely terrifying. It's really no surprise the numbers in the UK are as high as they are. Until I came to this site I had no idea any country could be as lackadaisical and ignorant of the risks of this virus as the (especially under Trump) US. I was sadly wrong. It's shocking and heartbreaking in equal measure.
Abraxan · 15/12/2021 18:44

Which you don't HAVE to have a PCR when a close contact, you are advised to get one.

You don't, however, need to isolate whilst waiting for the results but you are advised to maintain social distancing, wear a mask, etc.

It is common sense to go and do a PCR after close contact, though I'd recommend waiting a day or two after the contact so that the virus has had time to incubate. This is normally the case anyway, unless a household contact as few people go and see someone who has just tested and awaiting results,

However, I teach. I'm a close contact most days recently - but school close contacts don't count officially. If I've had prolonged close contact I have a pcr. And when my friend tested positive after I'd seen them I got a pcr. However, I was expected to be in school teaching whilst waiting for the results. There wasn't an option to stay home,

Abraxan · 15/12/2021 18:48

No PCR tests are only if you have symptoms. It's always been that way.

This is NOT the case, in England at least, and hasn't been for pretty much a year now. Even the government site for booking PCRs doesn't say that. There are a whole,list of options to chose when asked for your reason.

How can people still believe that to be case after more than a year of it not being the case?

I caught covid in October last year. Test and Trace advised both dh and Dd to get PCRs.

Any time I've been a close contact T&T have told me I should get a PCR, even without symptoms.

I used the ZOE research app for ages - it told you to get a PCR for a whole range of reasons, not just 3 main symptoms - and sometimes just at random.

There are a number of reasons that make you eligible for a PCR.

Abraxan · 15/12/2021 18:50

@EvilPea

I thought guidance was get a PCR if you’ve been a close contact of someone who has tested positive
It is.

The LFT thing is in addition, or was anyway. That may have changed with today's briefing - not read about it all yet.

Thinkbiglittleone · 15/12/2021 19:14

I wouldn't have felt comfortable around her and given the option you were, I would have left as well until a negative PCR is obtained.
You don't want to potentially be ill for Christmas, pass it around further or take it back home to your DH.

You are very lucky she is a decent person and boss and respected your feelings, there is not a lot of that about at the moment. You sounds very understanding of her predicament also, you sound like a good team.

Original poster
organisedmother · 19/12/2021 22:17

My colleague tested positive for covid unfortunately

OP posts:
ChristmasCrackered · 19/12/2021 22:41

I would hope that she wouldn’t yet have been contagious the day you saw her, as it was less than 24 hours after positive contact - as far as I remember takes a couple of days to incubate before there’s enough virus around to produce a positive test / symptoms / be infectious. No doubt someone will correct me if this is gibberish.

I can see why you left though, and I’m quite relaxed about getting covid (again).

Suspiciousmind20 · 19/12/2021 22:49

You did the right thing. Omicron is much faster to infect. Looks like the guidance will (or should) change soon to reflect that...

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/19/households-should-self-isolate-if-one-member-gets-covid-say-sage-advisers

I think we all need to remember that if we have loads of people off sick at once the services we rely on will struggle. Hospitals will struggle to provide the care needed. It’s in our own shared interests to act carefully. Well done OP for making a sensible decision in the face of poor government guidance.

Imdreamingofapeacefulxmas · 19/12/2021 23:02

Op I don't blame you at all
It's strange Joe we all see things very differently. I am seeing black covid breath in un ventilated spaces all the time!
Can you take a fan to work or co2¶monitor?

Chimley · 19/12/2021 23:03

@organisedmother

My colleague tested positive for covid unfortunately
That's her Christmas ruined but fortunately not yours.

I cannot understand why the rules have lasped so much. If you live with someone who has Covid, stay at home with them for 10 days and take a PCR test on day 10. When you get the negative result then you can leave.

If you are a close contact, get a PCR test and isolate until it's negative.

The rules pre summer of getting a PCR but still having to isolate if it's negative never made any sense to me. But now it's gone the other way!

Darbs76 · 19/12/2021 23:03

Surely she’s following the rules?

Happymum12345 · 19/12/2021 23:33

She’ll be very lucky if she doesn’t get covid. I’m not sure people realise how contagious it is. For £30, I would ha e gone home too.

Heathway · 20/12/2021 14:28

The problem with the relaxed rules of government is there is pressure to ‘carry on as normal’.

My best friend had a party a couple of days ago and I waited desperately for the rules to change on indoor mixing. This never happened. So we decided to reluctantly go.

Yes it was our decision. Yes we are grown ups and should have thought it over and weighed the risks ourselves. But without guidance it was hard to say ‘no’. The rules are the rules and it was ok to attend- we had no easy way out.

Now sitting here feeling very unwell with COVID.

The guidance isn’t enough. This new variant spreads like absolute wildfire.

Original poster
organisedmother · 20/12/2021 18:52

So the update is 3 members of staff have tested positive and we have now closed today and the store has to be cleaned by the “shopping centres team”

OP posts:
ClaudiaJ1 · 20/12/2021 19:49

So you were right all along to leave work that day. Hopefully you will be and remain negative, and your decision to leave may have just saved your life. The rules and 'guidelines' in the UK desperately need to change, they are far far too lax. Never apologise for putting your health first. Never. You did the right thing, regardless of what the 'rules' and 'guidance' says.

PilesEdgeworth · 20/12/2021 20:08

I’d have left in those circumstances, and looks like time proves you right.

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