Passenger travelling whilst really ill

[Notjustanother]

Took a flight to Berlin last week. Woman next to me was coughing the entire flight; deep phlegmmy cough and spitting stuff up. Clearly should have been in bed. It was grim. As a minimum she should have been wearing a mask.

Five days later I felt very ill, and tested positive for Covid. A former colleague who also happened to be on the flight, sitting in front of this woman, has also tested positive.

Since then I have lost half a stone in weight, been horrendously ill and am having difficulty breathing. Today we were supposed to be going away for a much looked forward to half term holiday, we have had to cancel and pay the £200 insurance excess.

The woman was on a mini break with her husband, but did some work on the flight. She works for a law firm.

Would I be unreasonable to contact the law firm and complain - especially as she was working for them during the flight. I have her name.

I am furious that her rank selfishness has made me (and others on the flight) so ill. There could be no doubt that she was going to infect others on the flight, and must have known that there was a high risk that she had Covid.

I think she needs to be made accountable for her actions, or at the very least be made aware of how her actions have affected others. AIBU?

I'm just starting to recover from Covid. I, and all the others I know who caught it at a huge event two weekends ago, had a sore throat, a bad head and felt very tired. But we weren't coughing up loads of gunk and I don't think, even if I'd gone out when it was at its worst, anyone would have known. I was sniffly and a bit hoarse-sounding first thing in the mornings, but not noticeably ill.

This woman probably had a cold and/or chest infection. The current strain of Covid isn't one that goes to the lungs unless you already have a predisposition towards lung/ chest issues. I think you're pointing the finger in the wrong direction and I think this is extraordinarily judgmental and punitive of you. I don't believe Covid would make you lose half a stone in five days.

Every one of us who attended the conference a fortnight ago knew we'd be spending time in a confined space with potentially poor air quality. Just like flying. It's a risk, a risk that you took without thinking about it. I took the risk eyes wide open and I'm not blaming anyone for the fact that I caught it.

Can't the rest of your family go away without you and avoid the chance of catching it from you?

What do you expect her employer to do? You have zero evidence that she made you ill and even if you did this has nothing to do with her employer.

Also, what do you realistically expect her company to do?
What outcomes would make you happy, even though you know it's not going to happen.....

Trouble is you could have caught it from anyone, there is no way of knowing or proving if this woman infected you, so although frustrating there is nothing to be gained from complaining unfortunately.
Hope you feel better soon.

I work for a healthcare charity. We're expected to work and travel as normal as long as we feel well enough to work, regardless of symptoms. I can't imagine a law firm being any different. Covid is treated the same as other illnesses now. It is frustrating but not a lot you can do.

A friend had covid the other week, I had the same (but less severe) symptoms but tested negative.

Did you take pleasure from telling on your siblings as a child? That's what you sound like here.

My dp flew for business 2 weeks ago, nobody was obviously sick on his flight, 5 days later he came down ill (we don't bother with tests) tgen 5 days later I got it. Visibly ill doesn't mean you caught it from her!

If she'd been travelling for work despite being very ill as a result of a hardcore attitude from her bosses then I think you'd have been justified in complaining to her employers for imposing a policy which posed risks to the wider public. But given that she was on a mini-break it's nothing to do with them.

What I will say, is that coughs can linger for weeks after colds or Covid, and if you're prone to bronchitis (which is a symptom rather than a contagious disease) you can still have productive coughs well after you're no longer contagious with the original virus. If I'd been banned from attending public places while coughing then I'd have missed about half my schooling.

So I know you’re not prohibited from travelling with Covid, the advice is isolate if you can.

But surely you exercise some common sense and don’t put other people in harms way? She was off on a mini break with her husband; completely non essential travel.

I could have gone away on my holiday today - but I wouldn’t do that to everyone else on the plane. Just because you CAN legally do something, does not mean you should.

It is unfortunate but we are now in the "living with Covid" stage, as we have been with all other communicable diseases.

I had hoped that all the rules around covid may have made people wake up to how to behave when sick, but obviously not. Anyone who has travelled or been ill in public, in the past, is being a tad hypocritical now to start chucking all their toys out of the pram when people carry on as before.

Having said that: the woman was out of order not wearing a mask. She wasn't out of order travelling if, presumably, she would have lost money on the trip.

I am now coughing up phlegm, with the same phlegmmy cough.
I have Covid.

The fact she was indiscreet enough that you know what company she works for and her name should get her into trouble. Selfish cow, name and shame her

you made your decision, OP, and she made hers.

It is unfortunate that you have missed your trip, but there is no evidence that you got Corona from her. I have had a horrible chesty cough for the last week. I've actually tested because i work with someone with a tiny baby and don't want to pass it on. I don't have Covid (but I'm still WFH because i don't want to pass my illness on, in the train or in the office). But i will be going to a football match today. (I don't cough into the wider public though)

Sorry but you’re being ridiculous. You could have caught it from anyone at any time before your holiday and been none the wiser.

If your holiday was that important to you then perhaps you should have avoided travelling yourself.

Emailing her company is absolutely ridiculous.

Why is everyone on Mumsnet obsessed with “reporting” stuff like this. It’s embarrassing.

Just so that you’re aware, if you could see her work enough that you have her name and her firm details then I suspect you could see the actual work she was doing. If so then there is a chance she could lose her job over this.

Im not saying she was right, either in terms of potential breaches of confidentiality or in terms of travelling with covid but do you feel that strongly about it that you’d want someone to potentially lose their job.

the law firm won’t give a shit that she coughed near you but they will care significantly about a potential breach of confidentiality.

I had a cough for 12 weeks this year, which was the result of a chest infection that just wouldn’t shift. I flew with it, both for work and for ‘completely non essential travel’ as you call it.. but for me was an essential holiday in a completely stressful time. You don’t know this persons circumstances or even that they had covid. I would suggest minding your own business and booking a new holiday.

Do you often become excessively anxious over health issues?

Give over OP!!

No you cannot email her/her employers about this. You are assuming she gave it to you (and she most likely did) but you have no proof.

I am honestly curious how you know her name and employer. I have often chatted to people on planes and wouldn't remember their names or work five minutes once I left the airport. Nor have I ever read documents they are working on etc.

We just flew back from holiday ! Everyone was coughing !!! That’s why I carry mask in my hand luggage ! Dh tested positive the very next day but it doesn’t work like that he was more than likely exposed 5days before he had symptoms u can catch it from anywhere ! There is no point stressing just keep yourself safe ! And please do not contact this ladies place if work ! My hubbi probably infected people and he didn’t even know he had covid before he had the symptoms!!

Her law firm would be interested that she was working on a plane with the company name, her name and case details (presumably) on show.
The rest is irrelevant.
Some big 4 partners have got into major trouble for working on trains or talking loudly in public.

You could have got it from anywhere.
It's gone round my office recently. The young ones only knew they had it because they are decent enough to test ( one person's housemate got it but only knew because she tested as she works for an airline). It spread amongst them and you would never know. They worked remotely for 10 days each. If I had been unfortunate enough to get it, you would have to say it could have been from anywhere, train, supermarket etc.

That sounds annoying but I’m not sure what you hope to achieve by emailing her boss?

You can’t prove that you caught covid from her. And even if you could, she’s not breaking any laws.

Whether you think she should have been travelling is irrelevant really. Her employer can’t punish her because a random passenger is accusing her of spreading germs in her free time 🤷‍♀️

You are being insane. And her employers would rightly view you as such if you do this.

Covid is an air borne disease and can incubate for several days after the initial infection. You have no dea that it was her that infected you.

I think you have to take the view if you travel by public transport or go anywhere crowded/enclosed there is a small risk you may get covid (or any other respiratory infection). If you are really really worried, the duty to mitigate that risk is on you.

Given lots of us can habe symptomless covid, unless you test for covid everytime you leave the house you are no more responsible than her.

You cannot possibly know that you caught covid from her. YABU.