Aibu to not take a COVID test?

[pepstuw]

So bit of back story, I worked in an NHS role where I was exposed to Covid a lot at the start of the pandemic, had my vaccines and in November 2021 it finally caught up with me and I got it for the first time.

Then in February this year I got it again but was only testing positive for 2 days (the day I needed a negative test for an important work trip abroad, typically!) I'm guessing this was Omicron this time but I had 0 symptoms.

Last Weds my stepmum who currently lives with me tested started feeling unwell and on Friday when she took a test it was positive. She has isolated away in her room etc and I thought it's quite unlikely I'll get a third time?!

I have a spa break from this evening to weds and I've woken up today with a sore throat that hurts to swallow. I really just want to enjoy my time away as it was a birthday present from my best friend. Have spoken to her and she says she'd rather I just didn't test until after our trip but she understands it's maybe a bit irresponsible.

As I understand it, 1 in 13 people currently are walking around with the virus and I have been very cautious throughout the pandemic and followed rules. I know it's not even against the law to go out if I did have covid, but knowing I had it would make me feel bad and I would cancel the trip. Is it so selfish to think if 2 years down the line people are so scared of getting covid that they shouldn't be going to a spa etc? If 1 in 13 has it then the supermarket is a higher risk?!

Opinions please

@FairyCakeWings

What was the point of us all having three vaccinations, which many of us didn’t really want, if we still have to restrict ourselves and sacrifice the joys of life every time we get a minor cold symptom?

I mean I could ask why I'll have had 5 injections and still not be able to go anywhere but.. It is what it is, and no I don't enjoy being home 24/7

Apart from the fact that you could get worse and be stuck somewhere feeling really ill, it's selfish I'm afraid, to spread it around if avoidable. We've all sacrificed a lot over the last few years. Some of us have lost family or friends, and businesses have gone under. It's not much to ask that you stay home when ill if possible

What @Poetree said really.

I just wouldn’t knowingly inflict a potentially serious illness on another person. That is not just a Covid thing though. The same applies to the three occasions I have had flu as an adult. And me and the kids haven’t been out and about with/following sickness and diarrhea either.

@Cornettoninja

I do think it's quite interesting that acting to protect the staff has almost universally been interpreted on this thread as not exposing them to potential covid rather than not exposing them to loss of their jobs, and the couple of posts making the opposite point haven't really been engaged with. It does say a lot about the messaging over the past couple of years

I think concern for staff catching covid goes beyond them ‘just’ being ill. A lot of these scenarios involve hospitality and leisure staff and often these roles don’t include any type of sick pay, have shorter contracts so fall within the two year timeframe for no reason dismissal etc. Chances are, if they get covid and are too physically ill to work they have a different set of financial and employment stability issues. Particularly if they contract it more than once.

To a large extent it is pissing in the wind with current infection levels but I think there are still a significant number of people who would rather avoid passing on an infection if the circumstances were avoidable. That’s pretty much the government guidance now.

Personally if I was unsure but had suspicions that it was Covid I’d err on the side of caution but nobody is compelled to do that now.

To clarify, when I said exposing them to potential covid that didn't only mean possibly being ill. There are more consequences to exposure than illness, as you mention here. So this is the point really: people have mentioned the sick pay issue, and are right to, but the other part of the discussion about not damaging staff's ongoing ability to earn an income is that they also need enough customers for their role to be viable.

Which takes us to the point about this being guidance really. I think part of the reason for that is indeed the fact that it's pissing in the wind. But I also think the government probably understand that everyone following it would create another set of problems, in a way that people don't necessarily pick up on when the issue is framed as just one cancelled or rescheduled activity as opposed to millions.

Nah I'd just go without testing if I was well without symptoms.

We need to crack on with life. I'm sick to death of missing out on things and cancelling things because of covid, it's beyond ridiculous at this point over two years on.

@strrawberriesandcream

Nah I'd just go without testing if I was well without symptoms.

We need to crack on with life. I'm sick to death of missing out on things and cancelling things because of covid, it's beyond ridiculous at this point over two years on.

I'll pass that on to the virus then that you're fed up and it should stop infecting people immediately.

Anyway the OP did have potential symptoms.

I currently have COVID. I’m on day 10, still testing positive. I have not left my house. I also worked (NHS) throughout the whole pandemic etc etc. There’s no way I would put others at risk by going to a spa. It’s not necessary. Saying “I’ve done my bit so I’m not bothering anymore” just defeats the object of having done your bit in the first place.

I’d take the test.

If it’s negative you’re fine, if positive it will probably focus you on what you want to do.

I don’t judge you either way. Sick to death of judgements.

I'm totally torn on this.

On the one hand, I have a once in a life time, incredibly important to me event coming up in a few weeks and I'm completely panicking that I get it just before. I absolutely cannot miss this.

On the other hand, I'd hate to think I've passed COVID onto someone who will get very, very poorly and possibly die from it.

Then again, I had pneumonia in 2019 and had to continue coming into work, going to the shops etc. Back then it didn't seem to matter and I faced no judgement for going out and about and not shamed for not wearing a mask.

Things have changed so much in just 2 years and it's awful. Everything is so unpredictable and uncertain. It simply cannot go on. People can't afford to be missing out on pre-paid events anymore. Businesses can't afford to refund everyone who suddenly develops COVID. So what are we supposed to do?

@SliceOfCakeCupOfTea

I'm totally torn on this.

On the one hand, I have a once in a life time, incredibly important to me event coming up in a few weeks and I'm completely panicking that I get it just before. I absolutely cannot miss this.

On the other hand, I'd hate to think I've passed COVID onto someone who will get very, very poorly and possibly die from it.

Then again, I had pneumonia in 2019 and had to continue coming into work, going to the shops etc. Back then it didn't seem to matter and I faced no judgement for going out and about and not shamed for not wearing a mask.

Things have changed so much in just 2 years and it's awful. Everything is so unpredictable and uncertain. It simply cannot go on. People can't afford to be missing out on pre-paid events anymore. Businesses can't afford to refund everyone who suddenly develops COVID. So what are we supposed to do?

Exactly. I think the fact that people are framing the moral decision as the one not to possibly expose someone to (more) covid on a working day not the one that makes them most likely to still have a job, mostly without even considering that the two might need to be balanced, is really significant. It's not a criticism, more a point about the impact of messaging over the last couple of years, and how difficult it might be to change that.

In a few weeks this will be a different discussion again because a lot of the people who aren't going to pay for LFTs going forward still have a stash. So the equivalent thread in a couple of months time would probably feature a family member who had covid like symptoms but not a positive test.

I'll pass that on to the virus then that you're fed up and it should stop infecting people immediately.

---

Thanks!

My daughter was not vulnerable OP, but went out one weekend, obviously came across someone like you, and caught Covid. Even though she works from home, she was too ill to do so, and so lost over a week's wages. She was already struggling financially, and is now even worse off due to other people thinking it's OK to go and spread their germs around. SO selfish!

@Speakuptomakeyourselfheard

My daughter was not vulnerable OP, but went out one weekend, obviously came across someone like you, and caught Covid. Even though she works from home, she was too ill to do so, and so lost over a week's wages. She was already struggling financially, and is now even worse off due to other people thinking it's OK to go and spread their germs around. SO selfish!

'Obviously'.

@Speakuptomakeyourselfheard

My daughter was not vulnerable OP, but went out one weekend, obviously came across someone like you, and caught Covid. Even though she works from home, she was too ill to do so, and so lost over a week's wages. She was already struggling financially, and is now even worse off due to other people thinking it's OK to go and spread their germs around. SO selfish!

Give over.

Viruses spread before people get symptoms, many get none at all, isolating people when they feel slightly under the weather helps no one. It doesn't stop the spread but it does have a greater financial impact on wider society.

If you think covid can be contained by isolating I suggest you have a look at what is going on in China.

Go and enjoy yourself. Pre Covid if you had a slight sore throat would you stay home? No… so treat it the same.

@rhowton

I wouldn't test. I dont care who I give it to, mainly because I'm a selfish cow.

Nice one. Bet you vote Tory too

*"It is selfish, yes. If you’ve had direct contact with someone who has covid and you now have symptoms. Take a test. Why should everyone else not ever go somewhere in case some wally who may well have covid but didn’t want to miss out can’t be arsed?

“2 years down the line” is irrelevant. We’re still in the pandemic. It’s not that it happened and went away and people are still worried. It’s still happening and it won’t ever get any better if people who are unwell possibly/ probably with covid don’t just steer clear of others for a few days.*
^ this

Boohoo you might miss out on something. Other people might miss out on many things, maybe even lose their life because of your selfish behaviour.

I don't know why you bothered asking; you're clearly going to do it anyway.

If you get any treatments done, you will be in close contact with the spa therapists, who may well be self-employed will get no sick pay if they come down with Covid. You might also pass Covid to someone a bit sickly who's gone to the spa to relax and recover from a chronic illness - the sort of person who might react badly to Covid.

I've missed out on things before due to self-isolating too. It sucks, but we have to weigh up our own inconvenience with the risk of making other people seriously ill.

We don't know enough about Covid to say for sure who will only have mild symptoms and who will die. On that basis, being cautious with the health of strangers is basic human decency.

I know some people who have caught Covid four times, btw. There's no reason to suggest you haven't got it again.

allthetees how's it going in China? We can't self isolate every time someone feels slightly under the weather. Plus you can't get tests now.

Also, chickenpox, flu, bronchitis are all mild for most but terminal for some.

Absolutely no I wouldn’t do this. Appreciate many would but it wouldn’t sit right with me to not test when I’ve been in contact with a positive case and have symptoms

Tbf, to those jumping down OPs throat and calling her names.... This isn't how you change someone's mind. Yes she has said that she has made up her mind now but I think part of that is doubling down after being called names with zero understanding as to why OP may have been considering not testing.

A bit of understanding about how she may be feeling followed by a well structured and polite post explaining your POV may have helped her make a different choice.

SlashBeef

Myself and the majority of people around me in my real life who don't give a damn anymore.“

Fair enough. Thought you were trying to speak on behalf of the general public. (The majority of which, in the UK, doesn’t agree with you).

Honestly though, you really do need to consider the impact of your actions on others. I’m all for people living their lives, our young ones have had the most god awful time, but Covid aside (yep, there was once a time 🙄) if you have any infectious virus that will impact on someone else we’re you to pass it on, you should stay home. You know that though, don’t you?
If you have the choice of going into work with Covid and feeding your family, or staying home and having to deal with the financial consequences, that’s one thing. Honestly, I would feed my family.

But a spa weekend that can be moved, just no. We all have to do our bit, when we reasonably can, however annoying.

@Whichjab

allthetees how's it going in China? We can't self isolate every time someone feels slightly under the weather. Plus you can't get tests now.

Also, chickenpox, flu, bronchitis are all mild for most but terminal for some.

You can get tests now. You can buy them from Tesco and Boots, and probably lots of other places. I think what you meant was, you can't get free tests anymore.

I don't personally know anyone who had chickenpox, flu or bronchitis and is now living with an unknown chronic illness that makes them feel suicidal. However, I do know people with long Covid who have made multiple attempts to end their own lives. It terrifies me how little help they are getting, and how I honestly don't know how to support them. None of us know how this is going to play out.

The OP lives with someone who has caught Covid, has Covid symptoms, and has previously caught Covid on multiple occasions. It's not a stretch to say the odds are stacked against them when it comes to not having Covid...

It's not as if the OP has been merrily holed up for two weeks working from home and suddenly has a scratchy throat. These are symptoms, coupled with a fact pattern that means Covid is quite likely.

@MrsSkylerWhite

SlashBeef

Myself and the majority of people around me in my real life who don't give a damn anymore.“

Fair enough. Thought you were trying to speak on behalf of the general public. (The majority of which, in the UK, doesn’t agree with you).

Honestly though, you really do need to consider the impact of your actions on others. I’m all for people living their lives, our young ones have had the most god awful time, but Covid aside (yep, there was once a time 🙄) if you have any infectious virus that will impact on someone else we’re you to pass it on, you should stay home. You know that though, don’t you?
If you have the choice of going into work with Covid and feeding your family, or staying home and having to deal with the financial consequences, that’s one thing. Honestly, I would feed my family.

But a spa weekend that can be moved, just no. We all have to do our bit, when we reasonably can, however annoying.

I see your point here but we've no idea if the spa day can be moved. Loads of places aren't allowing people to move bookings anymore because they can't fill the space at short notice. If OP has already paid and can't move the booking then she either uses it, gifts it to someone else or throws the money away...and in this current climate, she may not be so inclined!

Here you are, OP:

www.lbc.co.uk/news/nhs-chiefs-call-for-return-of-masks-and-limits-on-indoor-mixing/