Is anyone still genuinely isolating any more?

[Covidpositive19]

When I say genuinely isolating I mean staring at the same four walls of your house for days without leaving?

I have this morning tested positive. My young DC is on day 8 with everyone else in the house having negative daily LFT so naively hoped I had escaped it.

My DC has obviously been kept off school, school told, any contacts told. For the first 4 days they didn’t step outside the door, but on days 5 and 6 my DP took them for a quick drive (no stops) and on day 7 I drove them to a secluded area for some fresh air. Today with the storms they have not left the house again. We are continuing the daily LFT in the hope of an early end.

I have had a rubbish week, like most families when Covid hits, juggling childcare, home learning and work with my DP. Staring at the same four walls for the next however many days seems inhumane.

I have just got back from a quick walk alone, I wore a mask and saw very few people as you can imagine but any that I did I immediately crossed the road to avoid. I plan on doing this whenever the weather allows. I’m an adult and can actively make sure I don’t get near anyone, in the fresh air I genuinely don’t see the risk. I have been more careful with my DC as they’re young so it’s been easier to keep them in for the majority of the time.

Especially given what the government have been up to!

YANBU that anyone with covid these days should be allowed to exercise common sense when it comes to fresh air/exercise.

YABU that I should stay glued to my house no matter what because of the minuscule risk of an accident when out walking/a wheelie bin hitting me in today’s weather/any other (IMO) mad reasons.

I’d only stay home if unwell so I guess not to isolation in old way

I would still go out for exercise if well enough. We didn't isolate ds whilst waiting for a test result for high temperature this week this week but kept him away from others.

@Peoniesandpeaches I don’t envy you as it’s very hard to not catch covid unless you essentially shield. It really is everywhere, like any virus. Before winter last year I knew few people who’d had it, and now practically everyone I know has had it or has it now. So many over Christmas, I know about 10 people who tested positive on the 23rd of December!

I WFH and don’t do loads of socialising in cafes/restaurants/bars etc so I managed to get to now without catching it, but once my young DC had it I had a feeling I would get it (disappointed though, thought there was a chance I had some amazing immunity!).

And I don’t think ending isolation will make that much difference as you’ll already have loads of people not bothering anyway. There have always been people who take their children out when they have chicken pox, sickness bugs etc. Chances are these people are already not bothering to isolate (or test) so they’re already out potentially spreading it.

IMO if the isolating rules are changing then what's the point of testing?

@FantasticFebruary. Oh I agree. But as she’s an adult not much I can do about it.

@Sugarplumfairy65

A lot of us are still shielding never mind fucking isolating for a few days!

Exactly!

'Inhumane'

When I or my family have had to isolate yes we’ve not left the house for the 10 days . I would still isolate even with the new rules but I can wfh I’d go out for a walk though but not mix with others .

This is how it needs to be. If you are feeling ill - for whatever reason - you stay at home until you feel better. Just as you would with norovirus or chicken pox or whatever. If you feel OK, then go out for a walk, cycle or something.

There's a big difference between going for a walk and going on public transport and restaurants and this is what I think is meant by treating us as grown ups. Most people are capable of and will use common sense to distinguish what's OK and what isn't now that we have a far better understanding of Covid and how it's transmitted. There will always be some that don't but unless you want to live in a police state permanently, we have to revert at some point to individual responsibility.

I'm too stubborn to comply with dumb rules. Commonsense, science informed rules are fine. Complying with something nonsensical (like don't go for an outside walk) just because it's a rule? Fuck that.

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

I'm not testing so I wouldn't know if I was positive anyway.

I'd stay home if I felt unwell but go out otherwise. I'm self-employed and can't afford to be off work unnecessarily.

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

But it's NOT unnecessarily.

Not for those you might pass it onto who might be vulnerable or have vulnerable people in their homes.

Those who have to shield and so think it’s completely ridiculous to set outside your front door when positive, I’m sorry to be harsh but that is the hand that life has dealt you. You cannot expect the world to stop spinning forever because there’s a virus that might affect you. It’s been two years.

And I’m not talking about going on public transport or shops whilst covid positive, as a PP mentioned. I’m talking about a walk in the fresh air, alone.

I know I’ll get flamed for that comment as yes, it’s harsh and blunt, but that’s the reality. Plenty of people in other situations have to just get on with the hand life dealt them - what about severely autistic people, who cannot cope with the stimulation in shops, crowds, public transport. Some shops have “quiet hours”, where the lights might be dimmed, but few and far between. Those people, and their families/careers, have had to just get on with it forever, let alone now that everyone has been triple jabbed and there’s new medicines to treat covid all the time. What about wheelchair users who still can’t use trains in many areas because of lack of accessibility? You cannot expect people to accommodate you forever when no one else is being accommodated. Not quite sure what makes CEV people so different to other vulnerable people.

And I am not against small measures like masks etc, I have never stopped wearing a mask in busy shops and the rare occasion I take public transport.

@gamerchick

IMO if the isolating rules are changing then what's the point of testing?

Selfish people who won't isolate anyway, not much point. People with a bit more social responsibility will either isolate entirely or cancel optional activities, not visit vulnerable people etc. tell family friends, give them the option to cancel.

Vulnerable people hopefully get antivirals/other treatment/monitoring/help.

[quote CovidCorvid]@FantasticFebruary. Oh I agree. But as she’s an adult not much I can do about it.[/quote]
@CovidCorvid.
Yeah, not much you can do when they're adults, except convey your disappointment!💁🏻‍♀️

Nope.
I was only positive for 3 days in them 3 days I was absolutely fine just like a cold. I drove to the woods with dcs for a walk. No other people there.
Day 4 neg, did 3x tests all negative so I went out about my normal life.

Not for those you might pass it onto who might be vulnerable or have vulnerable people in their homes.

Meh - I don't buy this argument, I'm afraid.

People are vulnerable to all sorts of illnesses - we can't isolate every time we're unwell. It just isn't practical.

I agree OP, locking people who feel fine inside for this amount of time is inhumane.

We went for walks when positive. We went to places where we knew we were unlikely to come into contact with people and it was easy to keep our distance.

None of us were actually sick, we're in a tiny house with a postage stamp yard, my two small boys were climbing the walls. What we did was incredibly low risk in terms of passing on covid.

I agree with you OP. Plenty of people are disadvantaged in various awful ways, but society as a whole doesn't bend to help them.

The blind or sight impaired, hearing impaired and deaf, wheelchair users, people affected by ASD or autism could have much easier lives generally if the rest of us made small changes to accommodate, but we don't.

It's unfair but it's true.

I only know one person who wouldn't isolate. It will still be recommended even after Monday.

You have to be an arsehole to carry on as normal with any communicable disease. Stay at home until you're well.

Stay at home until you're well.

What if you are well?

I took my dogs out in areas where I knew I wouldn’t see anyone, after staying at home for three days. I’m 30 weeks pg and suffering quite badly from antenatal depression, and being stuck in my house 24/7 would have tipped me over the edge. I’d stopped sneezing by then and didn’t have a cough at any point. I know where I caught it, we all tested twice before meeting up but someone’s test didn’t pick it up and two days later the whole group were positive. That meant we were all walking around for two days none the wiser. I figured I was prob more contagious in those two days than I was afterwards, walking around empty woods with my dogs.

@underneaththeash

I only know one person who wouldn't isolate. It will still be recommended even after Monday.

You have to be an arsehole to carry on as normal with any communicable disease. Stay at home until you're well.

But thousands of people with Covid ARE well.

Why should they stay home and lose pay when there's nothing wrong with them?

My dh went out after a week for a couple of walks. His lft was so faint you could barely see it. He was barely ill and no other household members caught it from him.

I don’t think all posters are reading the full first sentence of my post, let alone the whole post.

Not once have I mentioned “carrying on as normal” when positive in the same way I didn’t “carry on as normal” in September when I had norovirus.

I’m glad to read that others have taken a similar approach and gotten some fresh air in quiet places. My DP is now also positive and he HAD to take my DC out for some fresh air earlier, and it would be so, so unfair on them if he didn’t. They are now negative and have been isolating completely since last Friday excluding a few quick car rides (not stopping anywhere) and also ONE singular walk I took them on when I knew it would be quiet.

My DC is young and hyperactive, and climbing the walls. They can’t play in the garden as it’s a mud bath from the winter. I’m not keeping them in for another 10 days, on top of the 9 they have already done, when myself or DP could take them for a brisk walk or bike ride in the fresh air. Anyone with young kids will know what a world of difference a bit of fresh air and exercise can make to their whole mood and well-being.

@underneaththeash

I only know one person who wouldn't isolate. It will still be recommended even after Monday.

You have to be an arsehole to carry on as normal with any communicable disease. Stay at home until you're well.

People who can't cope financially on SSP are all arseholes.