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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Can I drive 300 miles with Covid?

34 replies

anomies · 02/08/2023 14:38

Due to go on hol on Friday. It’s about six hours in the car each way. Started feeling rough on Monday night, temp hasn’t been below 39 since yesterday, feel very fluey and utterly wiped, pretty much like when I had it in 2020. Last boosted 14 months ago and I was pregnant at the time so think it’s worn off. Husband started to get symptoms today but milder so far. We have a one year old and a dog who’s scared of car journeys 😑. Holiday is our only chance to spend time with my nuclear family this year and for them to spend time with first grandchild of the family and I’m worried about psychological meltdowns if we pull out. Would you do it?

yabu - yes woman up, you should be over the worst by the weekend
yanbu - that sounds unpleasant and you should consider a staycation instead

OP posts:
MerryMarigold · 02/08/2023 14:40

Decide nearer the time. You can always go a day or 2 later rather than pulling out completely.

CatchYouOnTheFlippetyFlop · 02/08/2023 14:40

What do you mean your nuclear family? Do you mean mixing with other people?

If so, don ya hard-hat - you're gonna get slaughtered pmsl

FeliciteFaff · 02/08/2023 14:41

Ffs stay home. This is madness. Whoever has a meltdown has to manage their emotions (children excluded of course)

BigButtons · 02/08/2023 14:42

If you are ill with a temp you are ill with a temp. Only you can decided if you are well enough to travel and it must also be the decision of the grandparents wether they want to be exposed to possibly getting ill too.
Hope you feel better soon.

neverbeenskiing · 02/08/2023 14:42

No one here can accurately predict how you're going to feel. Some people bounce back from covid really quickly, others feel really ill for a couple of weeks. Wait until Thursday evening then make a decision. Surely your family won't thank you for passing covid onto them if you go though?

AuntieJune · 02/08/2023 14:42

I would go if you feel well enough, but consult everyone who is there to check they are ok with it and have had their boosters etc.

Original poster
anomies · 02/08/2023 14:43

Re covid exposure - yes of course exposing them is not ideal but response has ALWAYS been (even pre-vacc) “no let’s see each other anyway, we don’t care if we get Covid” 🤷🏻‍♀️

OP posts:
Original poster
anomies · 02/08/2023 14:44

@MerryMarigold going later makes sense, it just then starts turning into “spend a day travelling, 2 or 3 days there, then a day travelling back” i.e., honestly, more an ordeal than a holiday

OP posts:
AugustSlip · 02/08/2023 14:45

Doing too much too soon puts you at greater risk of long covid. You should rest and recover.

GoodChat · 02/08/2023 14:47

See how you feel tomorrow.

You shouldn't drive that far if you feel unwell, regardless of covid. You'd be putting your lives at risk for the journey.

QuestionableMouse · 02/08/2023 14:49

I wouldn't. I had no choice but to do loads with Covid and I'm pretty sure it played a role in why I now have long Covid!

MerryMarigold · 02/08/2023 14:50

Are you doing the driving or sitting in the car?

nether · 02/08/2023 14:51

Stay at home.

You're still feeling really rough and so shouldn't be driving. Friday is only 36 hours away. DH is only just beginning symptoms.

Current guidelines are that you should stay at home for first 3 days of a covid infection, unless essential to do otherwise, and if there is no alternative to going out you should wear a mask and practice social distancing.

As you rightly point out, a lot of people's jabs will have worn off by now and no one wants to be ill during the school holidays.

I'd stay at home for now - maybe see if you've both recovered sufficiently to be safe on the road about Tuesday-ish and have the last few days with your family

If you go before, make sure you take food/drinks for the journey (to minimise the time needed indoors at services) and masks for loo breaks. And warn family, so if there is anyone who really should not be exposed (health or financial reasons - not everyone will want to risk losing pay if they need a few days off work for a straightforward case or more if they get longer incapacitation) so that you can all sort out a plan that everyone is happy with

Issuefroth · 02/08/2023 14:51

If you were meeting me I would rather you all stayed home than give me so much as a cold, speaking as someone who is 5 years without a sense of smell or taste because someone decided they were well enough to socialise with their cold and didn’t tell me they were ill.

Peony654 · 02/08/2023 14:52

If you’re ill, don’t go. Covid is irrelevant really

RainbowUtensils · 02/08/2023 14:52

anomies · 02/08/2023 14:44

@MerryMarigold going later makes sense, it just then starts turning into “spend a day travelling, 2 or 3 days there, then a day travelling back” i.e., honestly, more an ordeal than a holiday

A holiday with a 1 year old is an ordeal regardless, you might be relieved it ends up being shorter

pigsDOfly · 02/08/2023 14:53

As others have said, only you know how you feel, and likewise for your husband. You might both have it very mildly or you might have it mildly and his symptoms might get far worse. No one on here can advise you.

Your relations seem very gunge ho about the possibility of catching covid.

I've had all my jabs but when I got covid about 8 months ago, for the first time, I had a high temperature for two days and felt absolutely awful for days. It took about 4 weeks before I really began to feel like my old self. I wouldn't want someone visiting me with covid.

MNetcurtains · 02/08/2023 14:54

anomies · 02/08/2023 14:43

Re covid exposure - yes of course exposing them is not ideal but response has ALWAYS been (even pre-vacc) “no let’s see each other anyway, we don’t care if we get Covid” 🤷🏻‍♀️

How about the people you will be in contact with along the way? I assume you'll be making stops during a 6 hour journey. Test again before you go and stay home if still positive.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 02/08/2023 14:56

I might be missing it but have you even done a Covid test? If so, at least you can test again and see if you’re likely to be infectious on the day.

If it’s not Covid, it’s less easy to test to see how likely you are to be infectious.

Either way, if you’re really ill I wouldn’t drive 300 miles as it’ll be really unpleasant for you

MNetcurtains · 02/08/2023 14:56

MNetcurtains · 02/08/2023 14:54

How about the people you will be in contact with along the way? I assume you'll be making stops during a 6 hour journey. Test again before you go and stay home if still positive.

Show quote history

Btw, why are most of the responses concerned with how OP will feel and not about the other people she could infect along the way?

EhrlicheFrau · 02/08/2023 14:57

If I was ill/potentially infectious with anything potentially quite unpleasant (so not just Covid, but flu, bad cold, sick bug and so on) then I am not sure I'd be going anywhere other than my own house/surrounding area. It's pants that it's happening so close to the break you've been looking forward too though, there might be a miracle and you will both feel better by the weekend - I certainly hope so!

GoodChat · 02/08/2023 14:58

why are most of the responses concerned with how OP will feel and not about the other people she could infect along the way?

Because presumably she'll avoid interactions and most people won't get close enough in services or whatever for it to be an issue.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 02/08/2023 15:01

@anomies - even if your family are happy to be exposed to covid, is it fair to risk exposing other people, when you stop during the journey for food or to use the loo?

I would also question whether you or your dh would be safe to drive that far, if you are ill. You could be feeling OK - like you have a bad cold - but still have low oxygen sats which could affect your driving. When I had covid, I felt like I’d got a nasty cold - nothing terrible - but I still ended up being taken by ambulance to hospital, and spent several days there, on oxygen before I could maintain oxygen levels that they were happy with.

Ducksinthebath · 02/08/2023 15:04

Nuclear family means the parents and their dependent children which, along with the mention of psychological meltdown, is a little confusion.

If you and DH are sick then you could stay home and spend time as a nuclear family.

If you mean the wider family, as in grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. then surely it's their decision to make as to whether they are prepared to spend time with people who could spread Covid to them, to be balanced up with your decision about whether you can physically travel while you both have Covid (and for that matter if wider family is prepared to provide childcare should you become too unwell to do so yourself).

Justaddalittlespice · 02/08/2023 15:05

I wouldn't purely based on the fact I nearly died from covid and now have long covid which has changed my whole life to where i cant work anymore so couldnt pay my bills and lost everything and would never want anybody else to go through that because of me.