Do I really need to stay home?

[batmancave]

Me and ds have a cough which i believe is from a cold. We've both had runny noses and no temperature.

Does he really need to stay off school and do I really need to stay off work?

Yes. That is the new advice.

Yes

The advice is to stay home.
I'm sure it's 7 days.

Yep, it's the new normal

Yes.

But I am sure it's just a cold. We are sneezing too.

Yes

If people don't comply wth medical advice, then we really are sunk.

It actually says ‘ a new persistent cough’. Dh and I have both had coughs for weeks, we aren’t.

Just checked on 111 online and it actually says you do not need to isolate with just a cough.

I'm so confused!

If it started in the last 7 days then yes, you can leave the house 7 days after the symptoms started.

Yes. Stay at home. Isolate as best you can from other family members who don't have it. www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-advice/

Yes.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-advice/

From the above page:
Stay at home for 7 days if you have either:

a high temperature
a new continuous cough

Apparently Boris is exempt from self isolation. (Sarcasm) I'm confused too!

How are you sure it's just a cold? Are you a medical professional?

Try going to work with a cough and see how your colleagues react...

Things have changed, people are paranoid now. I choked on my soda yesterday, and the subsequent coughing fit made my entire office fall silent and stare at me in horror. I had to go around explaining about the drink going down the wrong way

Stay home

Advice is clear.

Temperature of 37.8 +_ a cough

OR

new cough that is persistent I.e. not fleeting.

10-20 times the number of people than we realise currently have the virus and are spreading it. This is the tip of the iceberg.

Please self isolate

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-people-with-confirmed-or-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection#who-this-guidance-is-for

A cough by itself does not mean you have to stay at home for more than 7 days.

This is from 111 online. Does that means cough by itself means you should stay at home for 7 days?

Does this new rule apply to children?

Yes. You could be carrying it and thousands of people across the country are believed to be infected. Please don't risk it for 7 days of boredom.

You said you believed you had a cold

That is why you need to isolate.

If people who think they have a cold are going to split hairs about the definition of a cough, then the 7 day rule will not be effective.

Please do the right thing and isolate.

It’s not paranoia. If the whole county gets it at the same time, we will not cope.

Yes your employer won’t want you in work if they have anything about them and other employees/customers and the school and other parents won’t want your DC infecting other children and staff. You also have to think about the wider community particularly the elderly you might not have direct contact with any elderly but someone you work with might be caring for an elderly parent etc.

I am in the same position OP. DS (12) has a stuffy nose, sore throat and says he feels dizzy. A bit of a cough, especially last night but certainly nothing that could be described as contiuous. He has no fever.

I will keep him off school today and DP and I are both working from home anyway, but do we now all need to self isolate for a week?

I've read the government guidelines and they say self isolate for coughs and fevers, not colds, which I am fairly sure this is.

Still ...

I've sent an employee home this week because of the sniffles. And while I'm not a doctor, I'm reasonably confident that he really just has a common cold. The sneezing, runny nose and no coughing seemed to be a bitbof a give away to my zero medically qualified self.

Think about it as a social responsibility, social accountability and slippery slop situation:

If you and your cold are staying in, you're helping shape a new "normal" for the moment and will create peer pressure for your colleague with "just a bit of a cough" to do the same. Which will possibly mean they don't spread it to five people at the office, one of whom attends one of these happy-clappy churches where they think Jesus will protect them but also Jesus wants them all to group-hug (see the French/Swiss border cluster - this actually happened) ... andsoonandsoforth.

Long story short: yes, even with just a cold, you should stay in. With really "just a cold" the primary reason is to foster social responsibility.