@heavyistheheed but how do you know that in two days time they aren't going to visit a newborn, or close relatives who are immunosuppressd? They could leave the house in the morning thinking they are fine, then once holding the baby, or hugging the immunosuppressed person, suddenly start coughing or sneezing all over them.
Please don't bother coming out with the trite (and no thought given to it) phrase:
"but they could catch it in the supermarket on the way home, whilst queueing for a till" etc etc etc.
I am talking about the fact that (especially since Covid, which has not just led to so many prople dying, but has also wrecked people's lives) no-one should go out themselves, or with a child that is ill.
I have several children (now adults), if they were ill with anything that was likely to be contagious, I didn't take them out - even if that meant they missed school - and if every parent/guardian had my views, these viruses would not spread like wildfire, which would have the knock-on effect that the virus wouldn't be there, so it couldn't make a child too ill to go to school a day or two later, and therefore the child's carer would not have to take take time off work to stay at home and look after their child.
Yes, the parent/guardian/ grandparent/ friend/ au pair etc of the first child who was ill with a virus, would have to miss their own job, or going out for any reason, as a worthwhile attempt at not spreading the virus everywhere they went; and yes again, a near-sighted boss might complain, but they will moan even more if they find that 3 or 4 more of their staff have to take time off in a few days time, in order to look after their own sick children.
It might seem to be "just a cold ffs", but "just" a cold can quickly turn into something far worse, especially for young babies, the elderly, the immunosuppressed. Please don't suggest that they should stay in all the time then, they deserve to live their lives just like the rest of us. Staying at home because we or our children are sick, is usually just a few days out of our lives, but it can have far more serious effects on any of the people I have mentioned above.
I do understand that it may make many people's lives a little more logistically difficult for a short period of time, but once implemented by enough people, that will lessen dramatically the amount of people who become sick, and therefore the number of people who have to miss work or school etc. During the recent lockdowns, Influenza practically disappeared. Staying at home whilst ill - works. It would be much better for us, both as individuals, and as an economic entity, to have a lot less work and school days missed, due to the vastly reduced spread of viruses by people who are either too selfish, or too stupid too care.