Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Isolation length needs clarifying urgently

47 replies

mrsbumblebees · 17/03/2020 07:51

I am so confused, the new isolation guidance is so poorly written.

All the media outlets seem to be saying the whole family needs to isolate for 14 days, and this was the initial gist I got from the press conference too.

However, the NHS website and the 'Ending self isolation' section on the gov website both seem to imply the first person to get ill only needs to isolate for 7 days:

NHS:
How long to stay at home
if you have symptoms, stay at home for 7 days
if you live with other people, they should stay at home for 14 days from the day the first person got symptoms

Gov:
If you have been symptomatic, then you may end your self-isolation after 7 days. The 7-day period starts from the day when you first became ill

And
After 7 days, if the first person to become ill feels better and no longer has a high temperature, they can return to their normal routine. If any other family members become unwell during the 14-day household-isolation period, they should follow the same advice - i.e. after 7 days of their symptoms starting, if they feel better and no longer have a high temperature, they can also return to their normal routine.

However, higher up on the same page it also seems to imply that everyone should be doing 14 days?!

It makes sense that the first person to become ill only needs to do 7, and if that person is an adult it would be very helpful as after 7 days they could go out to get food and supplies for the rest of the family.

Are they going to clarify this? I feel its really important and there is so much conflicting information at the moment. Feeling very stressed.

OP posts:
AudacityOfHope · 17/03/2020 07:54

I'd go with 14 and assume that the relevant web pages simply haven't been updated yet.

Didyeaye · 17/03/2020 07:54

Where does it imply that every one should do 14 days? Can you quote that part?
Otherwise everything you’ve said is right.
First person to show symptoms can leave isolation after 7 days if temp etc resolved. Others in the house wait out the 14 days due to incubation period.

Didyeaye · 17/03/2020 07:56

@AudacityOfHope .gov pages were updated last night

MiddleClassProblem · 17/03/2020 07:56

I think it’s that the symptoms last 7 days and but if you have been in contact with someone with symptoms, it could take 7 days to show symptoms.

hairycabbage · 17/03/2020 07:58

I was under the impression that if you live alone then it's 7 days self isolation. If you live with others then it's 14 days from when the first person shows symptoms but if someone else in the household shows symptoms during those 14 days then it's 7 days from then (still a minimum of 14).

ohnononononono · 17/03/2020 07:58

This was announced last night in the Boris briefing.

It's 14 days and the whole family, if one of you have symptoms.

Quite shocked that despite this being all over every news site, people don't know?

lubeybooby · 17/03/2020 07:58

14 days if someone living with you meets criteria (fever or new continuous cough)

7 days if you don't live with other people and meet the criteria

Baggiegirl · 17/03/2020 08:00

Yes as we currently have staff self-isolating I checked this just now. 7 days does seem to be the advice. The problem is the media outlets are reporting it as 14. People will be understandably confused and it needs clarification and reporting

Original poster
mrsbumblebees · 17/03/2020 08:00

@Didyeaye apologies, at the top of the GOV info it says this:

if you live with others and you or one of them have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.

It is very confusing.

OP posts:
Baggiegirl · 17/03/2020 08:02

The above posts reiterate my point . The information on the media appears to be incorrect.

chantico · 17/03/2020 08:03

  1. if you are single and live alone (only one on premises) it is 7 days. Because there is no possibility on intra-household spread, as there noone else in the household.

  2. in a multi-person household, it is 14 days, in case the first person infects their cohabitants

What I'm less sure about is if you are say in a hall of residence or HMO, living largely alone but with some shared facilities

MinkowskisButterfly · 17/03/2020 08:05

We are isolating but not even sure we should be. I had a cough and breathlessness for two weeks but I am asthmatic and my inhaler was helping ease it. Friday my dd2 started coughing in car on the way to school (about 20 minutes), I mentioned to school and they said to take her home (no problem with that), she had a sore throat and runny nose over the weekend but no more coughing. I thought I would keep her off for the week anyway but now its changed to 14 days? Is that 14 days from her minor cough and cold symptoms, or 14 days from my cough starting (which is subsiding now)? I'm confused by it all.

meredithgrey1 · 17/03/2020 08:06

If you have symptoms it's 7 days isolation from the start of your symptoms (this includes if you were already isolating because a family member had symptoms). So if you get symptoms on day 2 of your household isolation you can leave if better by day 9. If you get symptoms on day 13, you have to wait until day 20.

If you don't get symptoms you stay isolated for 14 days from the first day the first person had symptoms. The clock doesn't reset if a new person shows symptoms.

Not all of this makes logical sense to me and I'd probably ignore parts of it (in favour of longer isolation), but that's what the guidelines are according to the full government advice.

Zacharyezrarawlings · 17/03/2020 08:06

ohno but it isnt that simple, and that is not what is on the gov advice pages (which have been updated following yesterdays announcment)
It is 7 days for the first person to get symptoms. If that person is well with no temp after 7 days they can go out.
Others in the house of the ill person need to isolate for 14 days from first day of illness of the first person. Then if anyone else in house gets symptoms they need to self isolate for 7 days from first symptom, but I dont think that resets the clock for everyone else.
So for example person A gets symptoms on day 1. Person A lives with person b and c. Now person A needs to isolate for 7 days, while persons B and C need to isolate for 14 days. if person B develops symptoms on day 13 they then need to isoalte for a further 7 days but I believe person C can end isolation on the original day 14 if not symptomatic.

EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall · 17/03/2020 08:08

Yup 7 days if you live alone

14 days for everyone if you don't

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 17/03/2020 08:08

Quite shocked that despite this being all over every news site, people don't know?

I think it’s quite understandable tbh. I’d expect people to be getting their info from the official sites rather than news sites. And those official sites ought to have been updated and hold the same information.

This shouldn’t have been that difficult for the government to co-ordinate.

EggysMom · 17/03/2020 08:11

A flowchart would make things much simpler ...

Zacharyezrarawlings · 17/03/2020 08:12

however - I have just re watched Boris' actual speech and what he actually said was "if you, or anyone in your household has one of those 2 symptoms (cough or temp) then you should stay at home for 14 days"
Thus implying that the first person with symptoms should also stay at home for 14 days.
Which is actually not the advice above or on the Gov pages....so, really very helpful indeed.

Original poster
mrsbumblebees · 17/03/2020 08:13

@Zacharyezrarawlings thank you that is exactly my understanding too. I'm concerned that it has not been made at all clear - doesnt help that the media are saying 14 days for everyone and even the GOV website contradicts itself.

I really hope they clarify this ASAP.

OP posts:
Original poster
mrsbumblebees · 17/03/2020 08:15

@Zacharyezrarawlings yes he did say that, but from what I can gather from gov/nhs website that isnt the case?

OP posts:
TorysSuckRevokeArticle50 · 17/03/2020 08:16

It's 7 days after symptoms start if you live alone.

If someone in the house has symptoms everyone has to isolate for 14 days so that there is time for others in the house to show and recover from symptoms.

sluj · 17/03/2020 08:16

It really is confusing. I am on day 5 of self isolation which I assume I will need to extend to 14. DH is with me so I assume he does 14 days too? Just to add to the problem, DS is returning from university on Saturday. Does he come home straight into our isolation? How long for?

TorysSuckRevokeArticle50 · 17/03/2020 08:21

From that link above

Ending self-isolation and household-isolation
If you have been symptomatic, then you may end your self-isolation after 7 days. The 7-day period starts from the day when you first became ill
If living with others, then all household members who remain well may end household-isolation after 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day illness began in the first person to become ill. Fourteen days is the incubation period for coronavirus; people who remain well after 14 days are unlikely to be infectious.
After 7 days, if the first person to become ill feels better and no longer has a high temperature, they can return to their normal routine. If any other family members become unwell during the 14-day household-isolation period, they should follow the same advice - i.e. after 7 days of their symptoms starting, if they feel better and no longer have a high temperature, they can also return to their normal routine.
Should a household member develop coronavirus symptoms late in the 14-day household-isolation period (eg on day 13 or day 14) the isolation period does not need to be extended, but the person with the new symptoms has to stay at home for 7 days. The 14-day household-isolation period will have greatly reduced the overall amount of infection the rest of the household could pass on, and it is not necessary to re-start 14 days of isolation for the whole household. This will have provided a high level of community protection. Further isolation of members of this household will provide very little additional community protection.
At the end of the 14-day period, any family member who has not become unwell can leave household isolation.
If any ill person in the household has not had any signs of improvement and have not already sought medical advice, they should contact NHS 111 onlinee_. If your home has no internet access, you should call NHS 111.
The cough may persist for several weeks in some people, despite the coronavirus infection having cleared. A persistent cough alone does not mean someone must continue to self-isolate for more than 7 days.

Didyeaye · 17/03/2020 08:25

ohnononononono quite shocked at you being quite shocked Smile you’ve just illustrated the point. Yes it’s all over the news however the actual government guidance is not what is being reported in the need. Which is kinda the point!

@mrsbumblebees you are so right - the Gov advice contradicts itself.

What hope do we have in a place that can’t even be clear about what their expectations are of the public. How can we help reduce spread if we don’t know what they want us to to Confused