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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that if you have an infectious disease, you should stay home?

177 replies

Notcontent · 20/01/2022 09:17

So apparently the need to isolate if you have COVID will end in March. To me that seems to be sending an odd message… I am all for COVID restrictions being lifted - but surely if someone knows they have a virus, they should just stay at home??

I always thought it was pretty selfish for people with the flu or a stomach virus etc to just go out and spread their virus on public transport, to colleagues at work, etc.

I thought that a positive to come out of COVID might be that people will be more mindful about not spreading illness but it seems the message being given is that it’s fine to expose others!

OP posts:
steff13 · 20/01/2022 12:24

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER

I don’t think it’d be possible for people to self isolate every time they have any sort of cold - some people get a lot.

As for flu, IMO anyone who says they have flu and is still going about fairly normally, almost certainly just has a bad cold instead.

Anyone who’s had real flu will know that it’s not something you can treat with Lemsip and just carry on as usual!

You would be wrong, though. Flu symptoms vary from mild to severe, just like anything else. My daughter had the flu (influenza a, tested by her doctor) and was behaving normally except for the fever.
Seeline · 20/01/2022 12:25

I still think that in the not-to-distant future testing will stop for the vast majority of people (probably kept for health and care workers). People just won't know that they have covid.

crazyjinglist · 20/01/2022 12:26

Just don't go to a workplace where you can spread a cold to others. If you don't get paid or lose your job that's an issue with your workplace not your colleagues. It's not fair but it can't be avoided.

Sorry but that's just ridiculous. You can't have every teacher, nurse, doctor, train driver, nursery worker, police officer etc etc staying off work for the duration of every cold they ever have!

And even if you were being reasonable to think people should stay at home with a cold, what use is it saying to them 'Oh that's just an issue with your workplace' when they've lost their job?! Confused

ufucoffee · 20/01/2022 12:26

It's the same as before. Just because you go to work with a cold doesn't mean everyone is going to get the cold. If you're well enough to work you should go, cold or not.

minipie · 20/01/2022 12:27

When my DC were younger they had pretty much continuous colds from September to April. And I caught nearly half those, until my immune system got used to them.

So your rule OP would be pretty impossible for any parent who wants to or needs to work while their DC are young.

SweetFelicityArkright · 20/01/2022 12:28

@hugr

Just don't go to a workplace where you can spread a cold to others. If you don't get paid or lose your job that's an issue with your workplace not your colleagues. It's not fair but it can't be avoided.
Or alternatively the requirements placed on workers to go to work whilst ill so as to avoid sanctions are an issue with the workplace not the colleagues coming into work ill, it's the employers policy that's making this happen, putting people in the position of putting their colleagues at risk (and/or the public/service users depending on area of work) or facing loss of income and disciplinary action. Either way it's the employers that are driving this, and the employers that can address it.
minipie · 20/01/2022 12:30

Employers cannot afford to pay sick pay every time an employee has a cold.

If this was required, the result would be that employers would avoid employing anyone more likely to get colds or illnesses (parents of young children for example)

Krakenchorus · 20/01/2022 12:31

I would hope that really trying not to pass your contagious illness to others would become a societal norm. Whether that means staying at a home for a day or two to get over the worst of it, or wearing a mask when you're full of cold.
Even before Covid, those crowded winter bus rides with loads of people coughing, sniffling, sneezing were awful. Stay home, or wear a mask if you can't.

JuergenSchwarzwald · 20/01/2022 12:35

@Fhee

I think it would be good if we could adopt the wearing of masks if you have a cold. But somehow I don’t think it’s going to catch on.
I agree to some extent but then you'll have people moaning at the mask-wearers for being out at all with "flu".

Also, while I like WFH I wonder whether employers will get even more shirty with people who phone in sick, saying "well you were at home why couldn't you work". Sometimes you really do just need to stay in bed!

JuergenSchwarzwald · 20/01/2022 12:36

You would be wrong, though. Flu symptoms vary from mild to severe, just like anything else. My daughter had the flu (influenza a, tested by her doctor) and was behaving normally except for the fever

Why would anyone be tested for flu? I assume your daughter was not in the UK?

Flu is a serious illness. It is not mild. And if you have a temperature you generally feel grotty. Well, I do, anyway.

Sedai · 20/01/2022 12:38

I think this really shows the divide in being able to work from home or not. If you can then yeah, it's not a big deal to stay in for 7 days with a cold/flu, but what if you can't? Do you risk being attendance managed or losing pay? Its really easy to say just stay in but it's not always feasible.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 20/01/2022 12:41

Glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks @hugr 's suggestions are impossible

RoseGoldEagle · 20/01/2022 12:48

If you couldn’t go out with a cold then my kids would have barely been in school/nursery and I’d have had a ridiculous amount of time off work in the last 6 months. It has to be risk/benefit. The cold isn’t pleasant but it’s usually not that bad. If covid goes the same way (as most viruses do), it will the same situation.

thewhatsit · 20/01/2022 12:51

@JuergenSchwarzwald

You would be wrong, though. Flu symptoms vary from mild to severe, just like anything else. My daughter had the flu (influenza a, tested by her doctor) and was behaving normally except for the fever

Why would anyone be tested for flu? I assume your daughter was not in the UK?

Flu is a serious illness. It is not mild. And if you have a temperature you generally feel grotty. Well, I do, anyway.

It can be mild. And you can be completely asymptomatic too. That’s the whole point.
JaninaDuszejko · 20/01/2022 12:52

Anyone who’s had real flu will know that it’s not something you can treat with Lemsip and just carry on as usual!

Anyone who knows anything about flu knows most people (75 %) have no symptoms when they have flu - FluWatch Lancet Article.

OperationRinka · 20/01/2022 13:15

I'm baffled by the thinking of people who still say "flu is a very serious illness which can incapacite you for a week therefore there is no such thing as mild flu and nobody can ever be up and about if they have flu" Despite the fact that the thread concerns people merrily going to work while suffering from a far more serious disease which has just killed 150,000 people in the UK.

blueberryporridge · 20/01/2022 14:19

Let's face it: the main reason there has been an announcement that Covid restrictions are being relaxed is because Boris is trying to placate his backbenchers. It's not science; it's politics.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 20/01/2022 14:58

I hope those of you telling people to just stay home when they have a cold are campaigning for proper sick pay to make that possible. If you aren't, then you can get stuffed.

PartyOnKale · 20/01/2022 14:59

@OperationRinka

I'm baffled by the thinking of people who still say "flu is a very serious illness which can incapacite you for a week therefore there is no such thing as mild flu and nobody can ever be up and about if they have flu" Despite the fact that the thread concerns people merrily going to work while suffering from a far more serious disease which has just killed 150,000 people in the UK.
This.
StormyLovesOdd · 20/01/2022 15:31

It's all very well gov saying no one needs to isolate anymore but what about people like me?

I was recently diagnosed with secondary breast cancer, I'm terminal and only have limited time left. I'm currently having chemo which will hopefully extend my life anx I was hoping to make the most of tge time I have left with my 14 year old and my DH BUT once all the covid measures are abolished I'll be too scared to go anywhere or do anything as I'm imuno compromised.

Is it really so hard to isolate for a few days if you have covid and to wear a mask in crowded areas?

strugglingwithlife · 20/01/2022 15:57

@StormyLovesOdd Flowers

Biker47 · 20/01/2022 16:24

If I'm vomiting or have diarrhoea or have flu I'll stay in, but if I've got a mild cold or asymptomatic or low symptom covid, I'm not staying confined to my house.

Overthebow · 20/01/2022 16:29

Is it really so hard to isolate for a few days if you have covid and to wear a mask in crowded areas?

It’s not just a few days though is it? It’s at least 5 and more likely 10 if no negatives before then. That’s not sustainable for the majority anymore, two years on with a milder strain and the majority vaccinated. Isolation for many means no or minimal pay, lost job prospects, lost education, difficulties with childcare, cut off from support systems, family and friends. It’s not as simple as saying just stay in for a few days. I’m sorry there are people who will find this difficult, but this is where we are now.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 20/01/2022 16:35

@StormyLovesOdd

It's all very well gov saying no one needs to isolate anymore but what about people like me?

I was recently diagnosed with secondary breast cancer, I'm terminal and only have limited time left. I'm currently having chemo which will hopefully extend my life anx I was hoping to make the most of tge time I have left with my 14 year old and my DH BUT once all the covid measures are abolished I'll be too scared to go anywhere or do anything as I'm imuno compromised.

Is it really so hard to isolate for a few days if you have covid and to wear a mask in crowded areas?

So sorry to hear about your situation. But yes, it is too hard for some people to isolate if they only get SSP or no pay at all. Some people literally cannot afford to have that much time off work or they can't pay bills.
Agrudge · 20/01/2022 16:47

Unfortunately I dont get sick pay. So I'm glad we have got to the stage where its weakend enough not to warrant a loss of atleast a weeks worth of pay.