Someone working in a shop who should be self isolating!

[NCNCToday]

My mum works for a certain high street store and today they let someone work in the store who my mum says should be self isolating as she is a student at a school that has been closed for a few weeks for a deep clean because it has 2 coronavirus cases (a pupil and a teacher). It was the neice of the store manager. My mum and the other employees were told to leave if they didn't like it? AIBU to be furious at such unprofessional favouritism that could be potentially exposing my mum and others to coronavirus? They are surely risking spreading coronoviris to the stores staff and customers? Is there anyone my mum can complain to about this?

With respect, your mother probably doesn't know whether this person has been instructed to self isolate, or for how long.

You only have to self-isolate if you’ve been in close contact with somebody who has tested positive. If the colleague had just been in the same building, if they aren’t showing any symptoms NHS 111 will have told them they’re fine to work.

Did this person have direct contact with the affected individuals? I think it hangs on that really. Also, what advice this person has received from NHS 111.

Is your mum a health professional?

Why is this favouritism Does this person have symptoms? Were they in contact with the affected? Has the entire school self isolated, because I am not aware of any such decision locally in similar circumstances and if not cannot see NHS 11 advising them to self isolate either. Equally how does your mum know what these people have been advised and why does she feel she knows better.

If she is immune compromised she needs to make her own decisions otherwise I am not sure there is much to be furious about. She was offered the opportunity to go home?

Surely your mum can deal with this on her own OP, she needs to write a letter to her line manager and make a grievance if she believes she has actual proof of wrongdoing, and it will be escalated. Check the NHD site for the current guidance which is to stay at home for 7 days IF you have symptoms of a cough or fever. Patients are not being tested unless there is hospital involvement or treated unless their symptoms become unmanageable or escalate.

Your mum is wrong. If they are asymptomatic they can work.

Yeah your mom is wrong. If the womans not got symptoms and not been in direct contact with someone with it or been to italy or china recently then she has no need to quarentine herself. I work in a shop and literally all the staff bar me so far have had nasty coughs and chest infections, ones waiting on blood and chest xray results. They are all still in and one of them has had 3 people in her class at college sent home to self isolate. Dps work mate came down with high temp sore throat and body aches today an hour before closing time and went home. Now im breathless and will have to see how i am feeling tomorrow if i can go to work or not. I work in retail and in a department that is heavily fuel by chinese tourists actually so probably at high risk of catching it.

Errrm...she works in a shop.

She's going to be more exposed than many other people, every time she turns up for work.

And she knows that.

You have proof the person has the virus and shouldn’t work then?

Well if your mum says she should be self-isolating, she should be listened too. Perhaps tomorrow your mum should say the store must be closed for a deep-clean and all the staff sent home for a fortnight.

God. Is this the start of witch hunting and blame laying?

YABU. This isn’t a decision your mum should be getting involved with. It’s nothing to do with her.

The official advice is to carry on as normal unless you show symptoms.

If your Mum wants to complain then she should complain to Boris and the government. They are dictating policy and this is the policy people are being given

YANBU to want governmeng policy to be different. It doesn’t sounds as if she did anything contrary to current government advice. So YABU to expect someone, especially a child to go against guidelines.

The number of people deciding who should be isolating with no knowledge or u der standing is growing. The police are even getting calls from people telling on people they tho k should be locking themselves in the house. Just do you, and don't be one the health gestapo with limited to no information.

The advice is to self isolate if you have symptoms. Based on other factors you may choose not to come into contact with certain people if you have been in contact with someone with symptoms but that is still down to choice.

E.g. A cleaner came into DP’s office yesterday coughing and complaining of a temperature and saying she might be in next week but wasn’t sure. She has blatant symptoms and should be self isolating. DP has no symptoms, but I am in the at-risk category so because he’s been in contact with someone with no symptoms we have decided he cannot come here this weekend in case she has it and has passed it on. And it’s not just about me, on Monday I have a hospital appointment and could potentially be spreading it to a clinic full of vulnerable people if this cleaner has coronavirus and DP has caught it. It’s a very small outside chance but in this instance it’s about taking precautions. And I am not in agreement with school closures and other draconian measures as things currently stand. i do think though that the more people take personal responsibility the less need there will be for such measures in the future, or at the very least the longer they will be able to hold off.

So symptoms the advice is very clear. Contact with someone with symptoms and it’s a personal choice. If your mum doesn’t want to be in contact with people who have potentially been in contact with people with symptoms then TBH she shouldn’t be working in a shop.

@NCNCtoday - assume you're not in the UK as no schools here have 'closed for a few weeks'. Deep cleans are taking days not weeks! Also IF the school really has been closed for a few weeks then this student hasn't had contact with the infected person for over 14 days anyway.

The facts of your post don't add up at all.

@FortunesFave
I have thought the same about witch hunting.
Plus. This is the start of hayfever season, my son is one of those that gets it quite severely, I worry if he will be singled out by idiots.

I’m guessing you’re talking about Trinity School? The advice there is that people without symptoms do not have to self isolate: trinity.cumbria.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/Parental-letter-12-March-2020-002.pdf

Your mum works in a shop open to the public. We're told that there are around 10,000 people in the population who have CV, many of whom don't know it. She's more at risk from the customers coming into the shop every day.

I have been quite vocal in calling for my workplace to be shut (large number of students/staff travelling between UK, shutting would not cause issues with childcare and/or local communities).

But surely in the case mentioned by the OP, we would first need to know if the worker in question has actually been in contact (as in 15 mins within 1-2 metres) with one of the infected people. Being in the same school doesn't necessarily mean she has been taught by the teacher or in the same classroom with the pupil. She might not have been any closer to them than to someone working in an office next door to the school.

Absolutely should have self isolated. Our government is hoping she spreads it so we get herd immunity. Meanwhile in Slovakia, I just read anyone coming back from any foreign country needs to self isolate and if you see the person failing to do so, you’re encouraged to report it to the police.

I work in a shop.

There's lots and lots of talk of shutting down schools etc, but nobody has mentioned closing all the shops, for the shopworkers not to have to deal with customers who put money/cards in their mouths and hand it over, who cough/sneeze over the counter at you.

People want to be able to bulk buy their loo rolls, and heaven forbid that they can't dash out and get their 20 Richmond Blue whenever they want.

All we can do is wash our hands like maniacs.

Morning everyone and thanks for the reports - we've now moved this thread over to the Coronavirus topic.

@Rubyupbeat I sympathise. My seasonal allergies start in late Jan/early Feb (depending on how mild or harsh the winter has been) due to tree pollens. At the moment I'm feeling self-conscious about coughing and blowing my nose in public, because some people do become hysterical about stuff like this. I want to get t-shirts printed that say something like "I'm a hay-fever sufferer - tell COVID19 to get in the fucking queue!" 😉