I've been instructed to self isolate

[SelfIsolation]

Is there anyone else here who has been instructed to self isolate? I'm finding it very difficult to deal with some of the reactions I've had IRL, and mental health wise / emotionally. I'm not at all scared about having Covid-19. I haven't even requested a test as I don't think I have any symptoms worth worrying about. On the other hand I'm wondering if I could cut short my self isolation if I get a test with a negative result.

You're not self isolating, OP. I can see why you're staying at home, but it's not self isolation if you're in contact with other people.

Rarely post but people are being so unfair to the OP.

She's just following the guidance given by 111. She's just returned from travelling, she doesn't have a case or confirmed contact. Since she hasn't been tested and wasn't judged as requiring a test, she's being much more conscientious than 99% of people in restricting the number of people she comes into contact with.

If you've taken the tube in central London in the last two weeks you're probably as likely to have come into contact with the virus as her. There's clearly a lot of it going around and it's almost impossible to get tested for it (and therefore have a confirmed case) unless you meet restricted criteria. If you're not staying off work, not touching your kids, not leaving the house etc. I think you're kidding yourself if you think you're so much better.

We're all going to have to make hard decisions fairly soon and people have to stop being so effing judgmental.

Thank you for posting innuinnit

How are people being unfair inuinnit?

Op potentially has a virus deadly to thousands of people. She is strictly following advice from our government, (sounds great however most people realise the government aren't acting quickly enough) but rather than ensuring people she lives with can't pass any possible virus on, she is still maintaining full contact and sending them out to work and school. People here are pointing out how they feel about that, and giving her an insight into why she is getting such a hard time from family and friends. It's really not that difficult to understand.
You said it yourself, people need to make hard decisions and this should be one of them.

Peehaps you'd like to pay her children's non-attendance fines, purple?

Will you be there to give moral support when she is calles in to meet with the local Educational Welfare Officer, when she explains that she disregarded the school and 111's guidance and kept her kids off school because a person on mumsnet told her to?

They'll probably ask her if she would have walked off a cliff if mumsnet told her to!

Because, purpleboy, anyone who has been in London recently is as likely as I am to have been exposed.

School children of people who commute into London are just as exposed as my own children.

The precautionary measures that you're suggesting are so extreme that we'd almost ALL have to stay home to apply them equally.

Why are you still going out and about when you might have had contact with it? Why don't you explain yourself? You should be going above and beyond what's recommended because it's possible that you have the virus.

Pothole good one with the cliff 😂 Yep, if Mumsnet told me to jump off a cliff I would not do it. Ergo, if Mumsnet thinks I should be doing something other than official guidelines that I've chosen to accept and follow, guess what - yep I'm not going to do it.

I believe the confusion comes from;

Self isolate is for someone that has corona virus. People who have been in close prolonged contact with them are to self quarantine (there's a difference)

People who have been to certain countries also have to self quarantine.

There are different rules for people self isolating than those who are in self quarantine.

People who have been in contact with someone who is only in quarantine (eg no confirmed corona virus) like ops kids can go about their business.

Ihaveaquestion if those are the definitions I 100% agree that there's confusion! Nobody has mentioned self quarantine to me (I assumed that was the more serious level) or said there's a big difference...

I'm now wondering if I'm using the wrong terminology and that's why people are getting pissy with me? Because they think I'm at a more serious level than I really am?

@SelfIsolation that's only what I've surmised from reading nhs guidance etc.
I think there's a lot of confusion generally and 111 themselves have given out incorrect information on occasion too.

I was going to share with you all my experience of arriving at the London airport I came into - I think you'd find it illuminating - given some responses I think I might get told off for not demanding that they check my temperature.

How many times do you think I got checked on arrival into the UK? (Zero.) How much advice do you think I was given? (Tell the cabin crew if you have a fever or cough.)

Bearing in mind this is off a flight where 100% of the people onboard are now expected to self isolate. We didn't know that at the time of landing and got on the train. Everyone is expected to have repeatedly checked online and noticed when the advice was subsequently updated. I didn't know until a friend messaged me, as far as I knew I'd checked when I had arrived and I didn't have to do anything.

Ah ok ihaveaquestion. Interesting to know that might be a factor though in what people think about it.

They have a self isolation hotel at Heathrow now, I thought people were meant to use that

I think people just don't deal well with probability. In their heads, you are either certain to come down with it in the next week (and might give it to them via email) or have zero risk.

As it's not the latter hence the working from home, they conclude it must be the former, so they're outraged.

I think you should continue as you are. Eliminate personal contact with people outside the household, as advised, but depriving children across the country of education for x days as a precaution because they are in contact with someone symptom-free returned from a Category 1 region would, as a certainty, disrupt schools and education across the country!

The education welfare teams are very keen to insist that going under 95% attendance in year 1 due to D&V dooms kids to lower GCSE scores ten years later so goodness knows what it will do if kids all over the place have two weeks' time off for having a mum or dad freshly back from a business trip.

@purpleboy people are being unfair because they are leaping on terminology (what exactly "self-isolate" means) and not acknowledging that this woman has done everything she has been told to do and is acting in accordance with the guidance she was given.

She also came on here wanting support because of some negative reactions she was getting and the tone of so many responses has been judgmental and unkind.

She's put her head above the parapet by trying to find out what she should be doing and is complying with the approach that has been advised - that is more than a lot of people. If you're honest with yourself you will realise that her hugging her kids/sending them to school is pretty low-risk compared to a lot of people.

Case in point: I work in central London, take packed commuter trains each day. Office building next door has had a CV case, someone collapsed with it within 100m of my building, positive test at the gym 200m away which at least 20 of my colleagues use daily. Oh and I was in Asia in December. And I have a mild cough, no fever. But can't get tested for CV and 111 guidance says I don't need to do anything. I can't stop going to work or pull my kid out of nursery because it's a job not a hobby. I'm pregnant so I have been to the hospital for a test - again apparently no issue although who knows if at some point I've been exposed.

Ok, I'm washing my hands and wiping my phone but am I 100% sure I'm not a carrier? No. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people in a similar situation. If you're completely honest with yourself I bet you're not holding yourself to the same standard as you expect from the OP.

If I was medically vulnerable I would be quarantining myself and trying to sit this out rather than leaping on anyone who might of had contact to stop touching their children. It's not realistic to assume at this stage that any individual who might have come into contact with the virus is aware of this and able to restrict their interactions with others to contain it fully.

Why do you think I'm out and about?

I run my businesses from home, I have cancelled all upcoming meetings and will be conducting them via Skype, I have cancelled my family holiday (due to leave in 2 weeks) I have also cancelled 3 upcoming work trips abroad and 2 from the past 2 weeks despite its costing me ££££s in business.
I am refusing currently abroad family members into my home this weekend, I am shopping online. There really isn't a lot else I can be doing. I am doing all this because my 3 family members who I live with 2 will almost certainly die from it and my daughter could well end up very ill in hospital due to her medical conditions.
So yes I do feel people could be more cautious, and I absolutely take your point on board about it being extreme, however when people's lives are at risk I honestly don't think people can be too careful.

If you knew someone you lived with could end up in a life or death situation from this would you still end happy to have this level of contact with them?

X post inuinnit

If your showing any symptoms however mild then you should be following the "new advice" of self isolation as declared today. Will you though?

See post below I absolutely am holding myself to the same standards. Including cancelling a holiday with no refund because I'm concerned about not contracting it but passing it on to those who can't protect themselves.

Purpleboy you're making no sense at all. What do you mean if I knew someone I lived with could end up in a life or death situation would I have that much contact with them? Believe it or not, of course I know which of my immediate family members have underlying conditions. The ones I live with don't, so they get to stay here AS PER GUIDELINES. The ones who do have underlying conditions - well I don't know when I'll see them but it obviously won't be while I've got to stay home.

If your family members have such serious underlying conditions then I think you're being sensible not going out much, but I don't believe for one minute that you're holding all of your household to the same standards you're expecting of mine.

Yes but you've said you run your business from home. Luckily you can do that. Some of us have jobs which don't allow us to do that and the government aren't at this stage supporting people taking "extra" steps.

There's a lot of confusion about what the guidance is. For example, your view is that "if you're showing any symptoms, however mild, you should be self-isolating". If you speak to NHS 111 today, a mild cough with no fever doesn't count as "exhibiting CV symptoms" - they only think it counts if you have a continuous cough.

You've said yourself you're doing all of this because you live with high risk people. I'd absolutely be going the extra mile if I did because then the risk profile changes, and if I was high risk myself I'd be locking myself down at home. Because I'm realistic about how many people are probably carrying CV, and how impossible it is to completely mitigate the risk of transmission.

I have had to register with Mumsnet purely so that I can offer my support to the OP and to express my absolute disgust at the rudeness and arrogance of many of the posters here. As a drama teacher I can honestly say that reading your comments reminds me of scenes for the Crucible ( a Witch Hunt) How dare you belittle the OP when she has come here purely to express her frustration at the confusing and conflicting advice she has received in what is an unprecedented situation?! And claim that you know better ?? But for the Grace of God go you all for I assure you that over the next 6 months you will all unfortunately be placed in similarly difficult and ambiguous situations. This virus is acting as ALL viruses do and is intended to attack our human immune system. And as its an unknown virus we are all trying to second guess how best to deal with it following conflicting advice as best we can on a day to day basis ( being drip thread through phones/ tv / radio 24/7 )
I have four children. At the end of February before anyone in the UK was showing much concern as to what was happening in Italy one of my son's came down with a sore throat. He took two days off school.. recovered and went back in. A few days later another son got the same sore throat. This time with a temperature. I kept him off school for 3 days. He then recovered and went back in. I happen to be a chronic OCD sufferer - with a particular type called Pure O and one of my intense fears is causing harm to other people unnecessarily. Yes...I am the person who drives over a bump then retraces my journey in case I have killed someone. While my second son was unwell it did cross my mind if it was Covid 19 ( at that point there were 4 cases in the UK) but he did not match any of the THEN known symptoms . My OCD moment passed. Fast forward four days. My third son then had a temperature and sore throat. I kept him home for 3 days. And even with my OCD anxiety I still was sure it was just a normal virus and not Covid 19. And I was scouring the internet every day. Suddenly new information starting to come in. This time it was that anyone in the household having symptoms ( cough or fever) to self isolate for 7 days but not the rest of family. A letter came home from school stating this. By now I was beginning to worry. So I kept all my children home. Much to the amusement of other parents and relatives. I was also a lone voice when I shared my concerns about a large charity event ( for a family cause that I had helped to organise for a year) and if it should go ahead. Most people laughed at me . Such an anxious Annie...stop worrying! The event went ahead.....i didn't even attend. So I decided to last Monday send all the children back to school. They literally came home and at 5pm..NEW guidelines to self isolate ENTIRE family in case one member showing any symptoms. And this time for 14 days. All hell broke loose. My husband had been working in London. Everyone thought I was a little crazy still but my kids were largely happy to be at home. My husband went along with it. His office were not happy.. And then Friday all schools shut down anyway . By now my anxiety levels were at a heightened state. The conflicting information via social media/ relatives in Ireland/ TV so called experts and nevermind government guidelines was so ever changing and fast moving that it was like a scene from Monty Python. And no I am not making light of this. In fact my own very mental health has largely been compromised by the last week of utter confusion. Just like the OP I have also experienced the hypocrisy of the very SAME people laughing at me two weeks ago suddenly making little indignant comments about the absolute importance of self isolation etc etc etc. Commenting on a facebook post I had made about a self isolated drive into the countryside " you went out ??" That sort of thing.
So please...spare us all the lectures. For no one here...myself included...knows any better than anyone else what to do for the best or how to follow advice that is changing on a daily basis. We surely all by now have heard from friends of a miriad of different stories of 111 and their confusing and non uniform advice. So yes it's shit. No one knows when it will end. We are all just trying to do the very best we can with the advice we are given and our own common sense. So stop judgements and condemnations and please do not dare to place your fear of this unknown and uncertain situation onto the already shaken shoulders of another person - in this case the OP in an attempt to make yourselves look more in control. It's cowardly and downright nasty. The fact is none of us are in control as at the moment the virus is. All we can do is do our best to greatly limit its effects. Personally I think an earlier lockdown with fines imposed would have been the fairest way to cover all bases and protect from all uncertainty. I sadly shan't be sticking around here on Mumsnet as I am afraid it's everything I had been warned that it was. A place for bullies to hang out. OP I hope all is well in your household now. And you are certainly not alone. Xx

If you're going to dredge up a 2 week old thread, at least use paragraphs for your long rant.