Travelling with Covid

[PatricksMother]

I am currently on holiday with friends. We have been away for nearly two weeks and we're due to go home on Friday.

I started feeling a bit unwell last night and this evening tested positive for covid. I wouldn't normally test, but one of my companions is still very nervous about catching covid and insisted I tested. I am now self-isolating in my room at her insistence.

On Friday we will be catching a ferry home and it's likely to be very busy due to the time of year. I will then leave my friends and catch a (pre-booked) train home.

My covid-nervous friend is appalled that I intend to travel and thinks I should find a hotel room somewhere and self-isolate until I get a negative result.

The house we are staying in is booked for someone else from Friday.

Even if I was able to find a hotel with a vacant room, I would struggle to afford it and may have to pay again for the ferry and train. I am also due to return to work on Saturday and my employer will expect me to work if I am well enough. They would not be impressed if I told them I was still away.

I haven't had covid since 2021 and I thought people weren't testing or self-isolating any more. I feel a bit under the weather, but not too ill to function normally.

So am I being unreasonable to travel on Friday, or is my friend right to be appalled?

I think the middle ground is the place to be here. Yes, I would travel home as planned. It's practically guaranteed that some people of every busy ferry or train or anywhere have COVID at the moment whether they know it or not - it's rife currently, and if your friends get it then it could never be known whether they caught it from you or from somewhere else. But, I would take precautions to minimise the risk of spreading it. Proper mask if in close quarters with anyone, sit outside on the ferry (take mask off and breathe!), open windows in cars, attempt a quiet place on the train etc. Most people don't test, so you've done more than most, don't let your friend make you feel guilty for existing! Hope you feel better soon x

You know that early on the whole surface transmission theory was completely debunked? It's just ridiculous 'anti-baccing' every surface within half a mile around you. I agree I'd be conscious of who I sat next to though if I actually knew I had it.

As others have said, ask your friend to get you some high quality masks, stay in the open air as much as possible. Keep away from people. Take every precaution you can to mitigate spreading it while getting yourself home.

We can't shut down society for covid but equally it's very foolish to think it's just a cold. I caught it 4 weeks ago today, was off work for 2 weeks and still not 100%. Before that I'd never had more than two days off in my whole working life (I'm in my 50s). It's the most ill I've ever been. My healthy 18yo DS is on day 8 today of being laid up in bed with it (caught it abroad, it's everywhere currently). A good friend has long covid and her life has been destroyed by it. It's very foolish to under-estimate it and very selfish to spread it.

I'd carry on as normal to be honest. There will be loads of other people on that ferry who have COVID and don't even know as they haven't tested.

The only thing I wouldn't do is visit a vulnerable person at home or in a care home or other setting that isn't open to the general public.

The mistake you made was testing. Unless she wants to arrange and finance your extended trip she can do one.

And I certainly wouldn't be self isolating.

Carry on with your holiday & journey home as Normal.
Friend can isolate in their room & pay for hotel & travel home if they want to avoid you on the ferry.

Has the paranoid friend tested themselves?
They could be asymptomatic....

The choices really are spread it or vaccinate. The idea that we should be isolating ourselves is going to cause more harm than it averts. Avoiding it is just going to result in a worse infection when you inevitably do catch it. Whereas if it's constantly going around disease will be mild unless vulnerable in which case vaccination is the answer.

I currently have Covid and feel pretty rough. (Tested due to previous long covid)

I'm still going out just avoiding crowded places etc and didn't at the weekend when I had a fever just like I wouldn't with any other illness.

I agree with others, you should come home but sensible. Sit wear it's less crowded etc

I've just had Covid from a plane and it was absolutely awful this time and took me 2 weeks to recover so it's not 'just a cold' for everyone.
Having said that, it's a risk your friend takes when travelling. She'll likely catch it from someone else anyway.
I think you should both meet half way - wear a mask when in enclosed spaces, windows open, good hand hygiene etc.

dinosaur this makes no sense. Until we have a decent vaccine, then it doesn’t seem
to stop transmission.

I am genuinely concerned about the fact our kids are going to have Covid countless times in their lives and we know it’s not just a cold. What does that do cumulatively? But there isn’t a vaccine that stops them getting it. I really am hoping that science comes up with a vaccine that works to stop infection with a low chance of side effects, especially in the young.

@DinosaurWhizz couldn't agree more about vaccination and it's criminal that our government only offered jabs to over 75s this year. In most European countries they recommended it for certain age groups - typically 60+ - in some places 50+ - but anyone who wants one can have one. Not so here where they just weren't available if you weren't eligible. We can now get them privately which I will be doing this autumn but I'm lucky I can afford the £90 - many can't. Obviously lots of people wouldn't want to be vaccinated and that's their choice, but it should be available for those that do at a reasonable cost like the annual flu jabs.

On the immunity front I don't think repeat infections of different strains is reducing immunity. The evidence seems to be that the opposite happens, your immune system is damaged by endless repeat infections.

I'd be travelling op.

I have no immune system and I get free tests and still don't test anymore.

Just keep away from as many people you can.

If it was me I would wear a good mask N95 or better (surgical masks are not as effective) and make sure it’s well fitted. If I could sit outside on the ferry (weather permitting) I would, and on the bus/train sit well away from everyone if possible. I’d open a window, if possible. If I was able to sit outside on the ferry and have some good distance between myself and others I’d remove my mask, at least to eat and drink. I think the more precautions you take the less opportunity there is for it to spread to others.

I don’t agree with people thinking it’s okay to have Covid and not take precautions when travelling.

I don’t think there are many people who would happily sit near you if they were informed you had Covid, so that tells us something. If people don’t want to catch it, they should take more care with efforts not to spread it.

If you absolutely must travel you need to be proactive about masking, being outdoors as much as possible, and basic hygiene.

It's really unfair to suggest that if other people are bothered, THEY should take precautions! 1) members of the public won't know you have covid so won't be in a position to judge this. 2) the masking needs to be done by you.

Your friend is not overreacting. Covid can severely affect people. I have long covid and it has completely affected every aspect of my life, for several years including being housebound, unable to work etc. Please don't underestimate the seriousness of it.

This

Covid is a mutating virus so no vaccine can ever eradicate it or prevent you catching covid.

All any vaccine can do is give you antibodies to help you fight it and make your symptoms milder when you catch it. You can also still spread it to others.

I think it's worrying that people still believe a vaccine can prevent a mutating virus from spreading!

We've all probably had covid recently, feel like shit but have to carry on. DCs went to school, we went to work dosed up on paracetamol.

Can't shut down life for two weeks when work expects everyone in now.

I'm not convinced that COVID is now any more severe for immuno compromised people than other colds and flu. I think if it's not too disruptive you should isolate but in your case you should travel as normal but stay outside as much as possible. If you are travelling by ferry you might be able to sit outside so it's better than being on a plane. COVID transmission is more through the air than by touching surfaces.

I give people wearing masks as much space as I can ( in case they've got COVID,,) so good idea to wear a mask if you can get hold of one

Hope you don't feel too ill with it and are better soon.

Isn't that what you get travel insurance with covid cover for? And we need to lobby to make sure that all employers provide decent sick pay.

A casual attitude to infecting others is making life very hard for those on cancer treatment, those with immune issues, and everyone else who is at risk of the more serious disease. And the number out of work, or working in a reduced way because of long covid (risk 1:10 infections) is really harming the economy now.

Pendulum has gone to far.

It's not just a cold. It has some really nasty effects across the body (major impact on immune system, which leads to greater susceptibility to other infectious diseases, doubling of stroke rate, increased onset of diabetes, and earlier onset on dementia and other cognitive difficulties.

I note the emotive language "nervous" has quite a different ring to other terms that could be used to describe someone who doesn't want to see this disease, whose long-tern harm is only just beginning to be appreciated, circulating freely.

There are two to three variants in circulation at the moment - meaning that people who had it in May are getting it again already. And it seems to be a toss up how unwell it makes you.

You don't have to test (and I am somewhat aghast at how unsafe this has made hospitals) but if you do, then you should do the right thing, and avoid going out unless it is essential.

There are no restrictions now, I bet there’s loads of people travelling every day with covid. Fair enough your friend may be vulnerable; but she’s gone on holiday and that’s when most people tend to catch it. In my team at work anyway, nearly everyone who has covid has travelled somewhere recently prior to catching it. Most people don’t test; so she’s being ridiculous. I’d tell her you’re just following the rules and the world has moved on

@TheSerenePinkOrca I wasn't very clear and did go off on a tangent. Vaccination in my case might have stopped me being so ill. That's why I would like them to be more widely available. I know it doesn't stop it spreading.

Please, mask up and stay away from other people as much as possible. I'm immunosuppressed and getting Covid could make me really ill and I'm sure I'm not alone. Yes, I've had all the vaccinations offered. Please tell your manager you have Covid. Some people are treating Covid as a cold or flu. My good friend has never recovered her sense of smell since she caught it and others have faired far worse. All sympathy but please be considerate.

This is yet another myth. As all the people who had Covid and had it worse on the subsequent infections could probably tell you.

OP, get some FFP2 or 3 masks and mask on the way home. That’s a reasonable compromise.

Thank you everyone. I am grateful to everyone who has replied. I agree with what most people have said.

I've got a bit of a headache this morning and I'm more tired than usual. Otherwise, I am fine.

One of my other friends is feeling off-colour this morning and is adamantly refusing to take a test despite covid-nervous' demands. I wish I hadn't given in to her now.

I will spend the day with off-colour friend today. Neither of us wants to make anyone ill, so we will do what we can to stay away from others, but we are not going to isolate.

Tomorrow, we will be travelling home from France to England. Neither country has any kind of covid restrictions.

I am waiting with interest to see if covid-nervous friend shows any signs of covid symptoms. If she does, I'll be as helpful as I can, helping her to cancel her ferry and train tickets and finding a nice hotel for her to stay in until she gets a negative test... 😈