Please talk me through this, I am being really dim.

[TheMamaYo]

I'm not normally completely stupid, but feeling quite foggy with constant information. Please could someone talk me through this?

Schools closed today, so my children have been going up until now.

From now onwards we will only socialize online, so no physical proximity to anyone outside of our family unit.

We'll go for walks with the dog in the fields around us, staying very far away from everyone else. As I understand, reading the latest news articles, almost everyone with this virus will show symptoms within 11.5 days.

So is it safe to assume that if we stick to the guidance, as above, and we don't get ill within the next 12 days, we are relatively safe? That we are not carriers and unlikely to be by keeping our distance?

I am not planning to then go out afterwards, at all. Just trying to calm my anxiety around this with a countdown for the next 12 days,

To clarify, by saying 'I am not planning to then go out afterwards', I meant I'll stick to walking the dog, nothing else outside except gardening. No visits, etc.

I think so. It’s what I was assuming, although was going with 14 days.

There’s a chance you could contract I by touching a surface someone else has touched, but if your doing plenty of hand washing, then you can minimise that risk further as well.

As I understand it you are right. If as a family unit the only contact you have with each other for 14 days and no one shown any symptoms then no one is carrying virus.

Of course there is the risk of catching it by leaving the house. Very low from my understanding of the science but not impossible. But if you went out again or had contact with others who haven't also isolated for min of 14 days with NO contact with anything you are again at risk.

I'm a keyworker - school. Therefore I'm exposed daily.

I meant very low by walking in woods etc with dogs. Obviously visiting a supermarket etc will put you at risk

There have been a couple of outliers, but in at least 1 of those cases it’s possible that it was a second exposure rather than an incubation period of longer than 14 days.

Average seems to be around 6 days.

Sort-of but there are some things to consider.

The government advice for isolation where someone is symptomatic is 14 days, so let's use that as a basis (it's 14 days because that gives you a couple days' cushion in case the stats are wrong). After 14 days if none of you show symptoms then you all probably don't have it.

There are a few things to note/be aware of:
• It's possible to have the virus with no/few symptoms (this is called being asymptomatic), so you never know.
• Coronavirus can live on surfaces for several hours, so anything you touch outside could potentially carry it, but only if someone carrying the virus has also touched it, which is unlikely.
• You can't guarantee that you won't run into anyone by accident; anyone you meet is a risk factor (albeit a small one).

But generally speaking the risk would be really low if none of you had it already and you continue to self-isolate.

That was quite reassuring to read, seems I might still have most of marbles then. Thank you all. Let the countdown begin!