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?

How many old people do you plan to kill today?

Sorry, but that's where we are.

Rang school to explain I was keeping her off to monitor and check whether she was starting with a cough or not and they suggested giving her calpol and sending her in. This is what we are up against as parents, the school cares more for it's attendance figures. I would rather be too cautious

@Namechangeyay that’s normal for you yes? So no need to self isolate. If it’s normal for you because you have an underlying health condition then OBVIOUSLY you dont need to self isolate.

The advise really isn’t difficult to comprehend. It’s actually the most straight forward advise we’ve had so far.

This is what we are up against as parents, the school cares more for it's attendance figures. This is indeed part of the problem. Illness has almost become 'criminalised' in schools' eyes

Stay off. Why risk it? I'm a single parent and DS has developed a persistent cough. He is isolating for seven days from today which means I can't go into work. I wont get paid, there's a high chance I'll catch whatever he's got and need more time off for myself, but it is what it is.

I had some eejit walk into my workplace yesterday who has not long returned from Italy - sore throat, temp, every time I stepped away from her she stepped closer.

If people are too selfish/stupid to follow advice it'll never slow down.

Is the cough the norm for you or has it emerged relatively recently. That's all you need to know to decide whether you have to self isolate according to experts on the radio yesterday.

If you have had a cough for years because you have lung disease no needs to self isolate (although people in the street etc are unfortunately going to glare at you). If you have a cough through some sort of illness which is not the norm for you then you self isolate.

Age is irrelevant. Your personal view on whether or not it is covid-19 is irrelevant. The fact that you also have a runny nose is irrelevant.

I was sent home from work because I have a cough, even though I've had the cough since before the virus came into the country. I've been to the doctor and know the cause of it, but work asked me to stay at home so as not to cause panic to others who dont know my medical history - they will just hear the cough and panic.
Unfortunately by me quietly leaving in the middle of the day, there are now rumours in the office that I left for virus testing.

Spare a thought for those of us who have chronic lung conditions. Not only are we much more at risk of serious complications, but a lot of us have a permanent cough and will be getting ALL the looks when out and about. A woman physically recoiled from me in the queue at Tesco yesterday when I did the tiniest little cough into my elbow. I'm almost considering self isolating just to avoid that tbh...

I have a cough, and have had it for about 5 days. I spoke to PHE and 111 about 30mins ago and I've been told to self isolate for a week.

Yes. Why is this even a question?

Jut stay at home, I don't care what you think it is, I care about what it could be.
This is why we're screwed, people are too selfish and self absorbed to be trusted to follow advice.
I'm low risk but I worry about my elderly neighbours, about the kids with chronic health conditions like asthma, about the mate who finished chemo a few months ago and is still recovering.
Go into work with a cough and see the reaction - you won't be thanked,.

I get you OP, it's frustrating. Both dd and I have a cough from within the last week which I'm 99.9% sure is nothing sinister. We both have noses running like a tap and our coughs are both the throat clearing kind from when your nose runs down your throat at night. Tbh it feels like the kids and I have just been passing the same bug back and forth since Christmas. Anyway, as annoying as it is I'm going to follow the advice and stay in for a week. I actually do have medical training so I feel pretty confident in my assessment of our symptoms, but it's still not worth it. If one person with a cough opts out of self isolation then others will do the same and we'll never get on top of this. In addition to that, I don't want to scare or upset anyone who might see us coughing by making them worry that they've been exposed. But I do feel for you because it's a massive pain in the arse and I've had to cancel a lot of plans for next week.

I don't know how I would live with myself if I thought I'd passed on the disease because I got bored at home and decided to go and pop to get that takeaway coffee, or just nip to the Co-op.

If I feel I have a slight cold, I'm not self-isolating. We only have a mini fridge and one cupboard, that's not enough for one week anyway. I'd still take DD for a kick around at the park if she had the same, just avoid actual climbing frames and soft play

I spoke to PHE and 111 about 30mins ago and I've been told to self isolate for a week. I thought yesterday's advice was not to phone 111 unless you were clearly feeling very poorly (and getting worse)?

On the plus side if I self-isolate when I have covid then I might just do DH in as he had lung surgery for collapsed lung this year, and both of his lungs are weak.

'This is what we are up against as parents, the school cares more for it's attendance figures. This is indeed part of the problem. Illness has almost become 'criminalised' in schools' eyes'

You know what? F your school! Tell them your kid has a cough or a temperature and that they're staying home for 7 days as per official advice. This is bigger than what your head teacher cares about. What are they going to do? Come over and check for themselves? Come to a house where a kid probably just has a cold but may have a highly contagious virus that they'll be fine from but the 40/50 year old teacher checking up on them might die from?

If I feel I have a slight cold, I'm not self-isolating. We only have a mini fridge and one cupboard, that's not enough for one week anyway. I'd still take DD for a kick around at the park if she had the same, just avoid actual climbing frames and soft play

Wow. That's shocking, sorry.

Yes please just stay at home for your sake and others. If we all take small steps then it make a huge difference to how we go about dealing with this crisis

'If I feel I have a slight cold, I'm not self-isolating. We only have a mini fridge and one cupboard, that's not enough for one week anyway. I'd still take DD for a kick around at the park if she had the same, just avoid actual climbing frames and soft play'

And right there's the problem. Selfish arses like this - many people will get mild symptoms, decide it's a cold and just run around as usual, while spreading the virus to people who will develop severe symptoms and suffer/have life changing health issues from it even when they recover/ die.

Yes you do. There are people on other threads clamouring for schools to be shut and flights to be stopped - seeking a false sense of security from grand gestures that removes any need to take individual responsibility. No preventative measure is going to work if people with symptoms think the rules don’t apply to them and carry on with business as usual coughing and sneezing over everyone. It’s just common sense. Stay at home.

We only have a mini fridge and one cupboard, that's not enough for one week anyway.

Do you not think that’s the situation you should probably look at changing?

Wow. All of these people who can diagnose a cold vs Corona Virus without any testing need to report for duty at their nearest hospital. They will really save the NHS a lot of time!

It’s also amazing ow the virus respects a desire to go to work, go on holiday, go to extracurricular activities! If only all of those people who have it had wanted to do something - they’d never have got it!

Please stay home.

Even if it is 'just' a cold that could be passed onto someone lowering their immune system and then if they come into contact with C19 they are more likely to be ill and more likely to be more seriously ill.

@NoFruitTea what an utterly selfish dick you are.
There are people of all ages who are immunocompromised but because you only have one small cupboard you are happy to put them at risk

I can't understand this selfish mentality

I'm not high risk but will absolutely take the appropriate steps to protect family, colleagues and the wider public