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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is anyone still isolating with covid?

233 replies

Whattodonut · 24/09/2023 11:38

My sister is- she caught it from a friend who hadn't mentioned she had a temperature when they met up. (Another thread- I'm annoyed about that on her behalf!)
She's done 3 days positive and says she's going to isolate until she's negative. She has a toddler who her DH is of course looking after but it means he'll be missing work to look after toddler until she's well.

She's worried about passing it around- our parents are elderly and I think I'd be angry if someone who knew they had it gave it to them. She does feel like shit but then if it were flu she would also feel like shit and carry on because... toddler.

What would you do?

OP posts:
StellaElevator · 24/09/2023 12:18

I had it this month. Didn’t isolate per se as parenting doesn’t stop & still had to take my kid to school. I felt awful so didn’t actually go anywhere else & when I did school runs I masked up & made sure I kept away from everyone else as much as possible.

HeffyAgain · 24/09/2023 12:20

If I don't work I don't get paid.....if I am physically well enough to go in I have to go to work!
So no, I wouldn't isolate (I wouldn't know if I had covid anyway as I don't test either).

ilovesooty · 24/09/2023 12:22

I would test if I had reason to suspect I had it and would isolate until I was negative.

I appreciate that not everyone can follow the advice to isolate though.

Mouse82 · 24/09/2023 12:22

I work with children so not worth the risk.

icallshade · 24/09/2023 12:25

Not isolating, can't afford to.
I just treat it like any other winter illness, if I'm too ill I stay off of work, if not I carry on as normal.

I should add that I am a teacher and the expectation is that if we are well enough we come to work regardless of illness.

MolkosTeenageAngst · 24/09/2023 12:28

I went to stay with a friend who had a cold, she did a covid test out of curiosity whilst the day after I arrived and it came back positive. I didn’t leave and stayed another night as planned. A few days later I developed a slight sore throat along with feeling a bit tired and achey. It may well have been covid but I didn’t test and I didn’t isolate or take any time off work, I wasn’t unwell enough to need to be in bed so I just cracked on as normal. Covid tests are no longer free available and my understanding was that the advice is no different to having covid as it is for any other virus; if you’re too poorly to leave the house stay at home and isolate, if you’re well enough to carry on then carry on.

In your sisters shoes then as she knows she has covid if she doesn’t need to leave the house I wouldn’t but I definitely wouldn’t be isolating from the rest of the household or expect her DH to take time off work to look after their toddler if she is well enough to look after them herself. Chances are she either caught covid from the toddler or passed it on to them before she knew she had covid anyway so seems unnecessary to try and isolate from toddler and DH.

Doggymummar · 24/09/2023 12:28

I've not had it yet, but the lady whose dog I sit did, she was due to go on holiday the next day and cancelled it. She tested negative 10 days later, which is a long time. I just bought travel insurance and it includes COVID cover too which is good to know.

SM4713 · 24/09/2023 12:30

@PortalooSunset Meant to say, it's not so easy to get tests these days so many people wouldn't know.

Rubbish! Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys and the majority of pharmacies sell them!

squashyhat · 24/09/2023 12:32

I have just flown home from a long haul holiday. In the last few days or on the plane I caught something which could have been covid. I tested when I got home and it wasn't, but if it had been I would have minimised social contact until clear.

PortalooSunset · 24/09/2023 12:33

SM4713 · 24/09/2023 12:30

@PortalooSunset Meant to say, it's not so easy to get tests these days so many people wouldn't know.

Rubbish! Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys and the majority of pharmacies sell them!

Not free though like they were. I've no idea how much they cost but suspect they could be out of reach for some.

howdoesyourgardengrowinmay · 24/09/2023 12:33

Yes we're isolating, DH and I are both covid positive and I can't see what benefit it would be to anyone to catch it.

.if we absolutely had to go out, which luckily we don't, we'd keep distance and wear a mask.

Also we're fully vaccinated and have felt ill for a week already. It's not clever to spread disease and I wish whoever I caught it off had realised they had it and stayed home.

QuestionableMouse · 24/09/2023 12:34

PortalooSunset · 24/09/2023 12:12

Meant to say, it's not so easy to get tests these days so many people wouldn't know. I'd like to hope they'd avoid others if they felt they were infectious with anything but understand sometimes life gets in the way (dc needs taking to school and no one else to do it, run out of milk/bread etc).

Not easy to get tests? Loads of places sell them, including the big supermarkets and you can even get them on Amazon!

My first covid infection left me with Long Covid. It has basically ruined my health to the point I've had to give up a job that I loved, I can't do half of what I used to and overdoing it leaves me in bed. So it's not just a cold and I wish more people would take it seriously!

comfyshoes2022 · 24/09/2023 12:34

Yes, I know people still isolating, and I would, too.

Growlybear83 · 24/09/2023 12:35

Of course I would isolate if I tested positive for Covid, as I think all my friends would. Even if I was well enough to carry on as normal, there are so many vulnerable people who could potentially become very seriously ill if they caught it. I couldn't live with myself if I thought I was responsible for passing Covid on to someone else. My husband is in one of the vulnerable groups and I word be furious if someone spent time with him knowing that they were infected. I feel just the same about any other contagious illness and wouldn't dream of putting anyone in a position where they could catch something unpleasant from me. I suppose the difference with Covid is that there is a cheap, simple, and quick test to check if youve got it, which isn't the case for many other illnesses.

Beezknees · 24/09/2023 12:35

I'm not testing, so I wouldn't know if I had it or not. If I feel too ill to go out, I won't go out, simple.

petunialover · 24/09/2023 12:35

I caught Covid from a friend last year.
He was coughing all over the place and still chose to meet me for a coffee.

I caught it from him and it was horrendous, I lost my smell and taste for 6 weeks.

If I do catch Covid/Flu/Cold I am 100% isolating as I would not want to pass it on to anyone especially a vulnerable or elderly person.

ChChChCherryBomb · 24/09/2023 12:38

If I felt really ill I’d stay at home but I have the added worry of working in close proximity to someone who is immunosuppressed so what should I do if I tested positive?

I think there should still be some kind of responsibility taken if you know you’ve got Covid as for many it’s not ‘just a cold’.

TimeFlysWhenYoureHavingRum · 24/09/2023 12:38

Its no less dangerous to vulnerable people so avoiding contact with elderly relatives / public transport etc is a good idea (and government guidance). I would do the same with flu and would hope others would too.

TwoBigNoisyBoys · 24/09/2023 12:42

I had covid just after finishing chemotherapy, and I isolated because I didn’t want anyone else to catch it. I don’t think people are, generally. I understand it’s difficult if you don’t get sick pay, but I do feel a little bit annoyed by it sometimes…maybe I’m being unreasonable. My son went out on Friday night and bumped into someone he knew
who had called into work sick that day because his daughter had covid…but was out socialising in the pub that night. I felt a bit annoyed at that, as my son had been chatting with him a while before he disclosed this…and then of course my son came home to me. I only finished chemotherapy 9 months ago, and so I’m still a bit more immuno-compromised. I’m going out and about pretty much as normal nowadays, but I think if I tested positive I’d start at home (although I WFH too, so it’s easier for me I guess).

StripyHorse · 24/09/2023 12:42

We haven't isolated within the household when we have had it - the house is too small and a shared bathroom also makes it tricky. We have, and will continue to isolate away from others if we have it- and wear a decent mask of we do have to go out. Going for a bit of fresh air is one thing, going to work, a restaurant, or the cinema etc is a different matter.

DM had covid about 8 weeks ago for the first time. It really knocked her for six, since then she developed a UTI with her immune system being so battered, ended up in A&E overnight on a drip, the knock on effect of the antibiotics has messed with her INR (blood clotting) because she takes blood thinners.

People deciding that they don't want to let it stop them going oug for a week or so, really don't consider the consequences for others. If employers don't let people have time off / pay them proper sick pay, I hold them responsible (not the employees torn between staying home or paying the bills).

LakieLady · 24/09/2023 12:42

I definitely would. Long covid is no laughing matter and you don't know who you might infect, and who might be living with someone immunocompromised.

Curioushorse · 24/09/2023 12:43

Loads of the teachers in my school have it or have had it. We've all been required to test and isolate.

Smoky1107 · 24/09/2023 12:44

I had to fly home from Spain. So no I couldn't isolate but I'd have loved too tbh! Hidden away from the teenagers 😂

SlipSlidinAway · 24/09/2023 12:45

PinkRoses1245 · 24/09/2023 12:09

I would never test unless I had to for a holiday or something. Pointless. If you’re ill, be ill. If not, get on with your life

Surely the point is if you know you have Covid you can tell other people so, even if you don't feel any obligation to restrict your movements, you can give others the choice to stay away from you?

DS is off work and ill in bed at the moment because he was in a meeting with 2 colleagues who had Covid. He didn't realise at the time. If he'd known he'd have joined the meeting remotely.

ClarabelleRose · 24/09/2023 12:48

I had it recently. I isolated as far as I could, but as a lone parent I still had to get my teens to school (no public transport). I felt so, so poorly with it and lost 9lbs in a week. I couldn’t have done anything but the bare minimum even if I’d wanted to. I kept clear of my elderly mother (and clients) until I tested negative.