What would you do NOW if you were to test positive for Covid?

[patooties]

In the next few days DH is
1/ chairing a committee
2/ invited to house party on Friday and another on Saturday
3/ a school Christmas assembly
4/ we are having friends over for dinner

he has been rough since Saturday- WFH so no problem there. Only tested this morning.

WWYD of those things (if feeling well enough) ? All or none of it? Or some of it. Give reasons for your answers please.

yes the nhs now recommends to stay home for 5 days after testing positive. The nhs is under huge pressure due to the flu and doctors strike.

No it has not.

Well I wouldn't test for anything but if I was ill with flu like symptoms it would depend how I felt. If I was coughing and sneezing everywhere I'd stay away from people, if not I'd just carry on as usual.

None of it. He will ruin so many Christmases if he passes it on. Don’t do it.

He should do what he wants to do and not do what he doesn’t.
It’s not 2020 anymore.

I’d stay home until I felt better. No one wants COVID for Christmas or the flu or vomiting bug or chicken pox or whatever. Some of us are immunocompromised with hospital appointments we can’t miss. It’s selfish to knowingly go around spreading an infection that will significantly negatively impact people’s lives. I don’t personally care about having COVID (I got my jab this year and I’ve had it plenty of times), but it would mean I wouldn’t be allowed to attend appointments that I need to attend (cancer treatment) that are potentially life saving. No one’s Christmas do or whatever is more important than that.

COVID (and influenza) are just another cold symptomatically for many, but practically speaking, they aren’t treated that way by the NHS. They mean cancelled appointments. And some of us can’t risk a cancelled appointment. My hospital has gone back to telephone appointments unless you must be seen f2f and mandatory masks to enter oncology.

I wouldn’t attend any. It’s not fair on other people

If services were properly staffed and people were not penalised for staying home when infectious, they’d be more able to. I’m not judging anyone who has to go to work with a cold, but I do judge those who choose to when they could make an alternative choice. I certainly judge those who choose to socialise whilst ill.

TBH, if I were you and your DH, I’d be utterly delighted to have an excuse to cancel all those things and stay at home.

I would not do any of these things with viral symptoms, whether it was Covid, flu or some other coldy-like thing - especially just before Christmas. If it was something I absolutely had to attend, with no other option, I would wear the best quality mask available, make sure I keep a safe distance and try to touch nothing. A virus could kill someone with weakened immunity, that's not exactly in the Christmas spirit.

But none of the four scenarios you set out fall into that category: two of them are purely social things, why would you want to infect your friends with anything like that? Going to a school performance with a virus is just evil so close to Christmas - lots of parents have to miss school events for far less important reasons. And he can chair the committee remotely, surely!

I wouldn’t have tested

Now that you know, don’t go! My friend gave me flu last year (she thought she was just tired / hungover) and DP and I spent Christmas hallucinating with fever. I still haven’t forgiven her tbh!

I have Covid at the moment. I am on my arse with it. I have truly never felt so poorly. I am in my room isolating from everyone. My dh is very vulnerable which is why I have tested.

If I was feeling okay I still couldn’t go to any of those things. People’s Christmas could potentially be ruined

DH had a transplant a couple of years ago so is on immunosuppresants and anti-rejection drugs which leave him prone to catching viruses. He does not expect other people to isolate or avoid going out for his benefit, as he doesn't feel that would be reasonable.

What he would very very much appreciate is being informed when someone has an infectious illness - where that is practical - so that HE can make an informed decision when he is risk assessing. This would apply to flu as much as Covid.

In the examples @patooties gives:

1. DH would not be shutting himself in a small committee room with someone who was ill, nor
2. Would he be going to visit friends in a home where one of the hosts had recently had (or still has) an infectious disease, though he would quite happily go for a walk with them (with or without a dog 😄)
3. He would go to a school assembly knowing the person giving it was or recently had been ill on the grounds that he would be able to keep some distance from them, and 2. He might well attend a party on the basis that you tend not to have long or one-on-one conversations with anyone at a party.

Obviously, this is just one person's assessment of risk, making no claims whatsoever about universality, but OP asked for reasons, and these would be his. Thought posters might be interested.

Sorry my dh. His school knew he was ill with covid and demanded him back in on the rule you didn't need to isolate anymore. As soon as anything was no longer legally required the school dropped it that day.

I'd never take a test? Why would you? If he's well enough to go, then crack on. Anyone with kids is constantly exposed to all sorts anyway.

its not about being properly staffed, though in some cases it will be but you can only have so many bank staff

a mild cold to one person may become a heavy cold for someone else is everyone meant to isolated just because they have coughed/sneezed a few times

if this was supported there would be people taking full advantage as they did during covid when they had to self isolate before testing became readily available

infectious viruses are part of life

I haven't tested for that in years.

Hypothetically, if I got a positive Covid test I'd be looking to change my plans (because if I had no intention of changing my plans I would not have done the Covid test in the first place).

For the meeting/party/dinner I'd contact the other people involved and give them a heads-up and then have a discussion about how they wanted to proceed. I wouldn't go to the Christmas assembly.

(IRL I haven't actually done a Covid test since they started charging for them)

Please stay home and don't infect others.

In case you are around people vulnerable. As I said earlier in the thread I thought I had a chest infection then thought it was flu. I had covid. Passed it to my mum. She now has hearing loss due to getting it from me despite being nowhere near me when she was coming down to help me when I was ill

I'm sorry - but it takes two minutes to do a test - and people who don't care if they have covid and don't care if they pass it to other people are completely selfish

This

I wouldn't test but would treat all unpleasant illnesses the same (bad cold, flu, covid, stomach bug, winter vomiting virus, etc..): Stay home and away from other people until I think I am no longer contagious. In most cases this is until the major symtomps are a day or two over and gone.

None of it.

I do hate it when people say "you're probably not contagious now" are you a doctor? Do you have any medical training or knowledge? Or did your old Nan just tell you if you cough on a frog and it doesn't turn blue you're good to go?

I'd be fucking fuming if someone turned up to my house party coughing and spluttering, particularly the week before Christmas.