I have 4 *vulnerable* people in my home but DH is emergency worker and has to work.

[Skybluepink123]

DH is a police officer so has to go to work in London. At home, there are 4 of us classed as vulnerable and therefore needing to isolate for at least the next 12 weeks. I’m really scared that either DH catches CV as London has more cases than other areas or that he brings it home to one of us. The thought terrifies me, especially when I watch the news and Italian doctors are begging other countries to take heed and isolate.

Can he stay somewhere else for the 12 weeks? Not ideal I know

I think it might be best for him to stay elsewhere.

Do you have a lobby area where you can leave hot water soap a towel and a change of clothes?
What we are doing after work is DH is getting the above ready for me. I then strip off clothes in bag and wash as best I can. Then everything straight into washing machine for a hot wash.

I'm also sleeping on the sofa from Monday when I'm next in ( not much where we live yet but in a gp so it's only a matter of time....)
I think I will eventually get it and when I do we are setting up the garage for me to have an isolation suite in. I'm fit and well ( and female which seems to help) do hopefully it will be flu for a while and 14 days of boredom. It's difficult though as without testing ( and potential ly being contagious before much int he way of symptoms)

There is nowhere. He has elderly parents so that’s out of the question. As the sole earner, our finances are very limited so a hotel would be out of questions. I’m just watching sky news from an Italian ITU ward and it’s horrific. I don’t want my DH to go to work and yet I know he must but what about his wife and children? If I tell him, he’ll try to reassure me but no-one knows what will happen.

Can he talk to his collegues?

Im nhs and our trust have been set up some hotel stays to cover situations like this (and allow people to come to work rather than self isolating with the rest of their families)

People in my office have also began doing things like staying with colleagues etc. Like a big nhs sleep over!

"Do you have a lobby area where you can leave hot water soap a towel and a change of clothes?
What we are doing after work is DH is getting the above ready for me. "
Sorry but that won't make any difference if a keyworker gets infected. My wife is a nurse and her employers are not the slightest bit interest in my risk factor. If she gets infected I have a 10% chance of dying, she will almost certainly get infected.
In practice it will probably require my wife to live on site at the hospital for six months.

Has he got a colleague he could stay with? Not ideal but will keep your family a bit safer

My friend has a very vulnerable husband. She keeps all work things in the garage, changes clothes sanitizer her hands and puts gloves on until she has got to the sink and put the tap on to wash her hands. The gloves are then taken off and binned, she washes her hands and then sanitizes the door handles.

Could your husband do that? Even if it means one room is for his work stuff (or get changed at work and leave clothes there?)

That’s a good suggestion about washing and changing when he gets home. I just wish he could isolate with us. All 4 of his family (me and the kids) have significant physical health problems and so we often rely on DH for practical and moral support.

This is where we need hotel owners and Air BnB owners to offer up their empty rooms.

Not for money but to help essential workers keep going. I am sure there must be loads of empty places like this in London at the moment.

Not to mention those who’ve decamped to second homes - offering their London home could be a way to offset the negative effects of them all moving out. A police officer should be a pretty safe bet as a temporary lodger.

Whereabouts does he work in London? Could try looking for Airbnbs nearby and ask if they would consider renting him a place for a token say £20 a week? If you ask enough you might get some nice people.

Sorry cross posted, if you need him there physically then perhaps my suggestions don’t work.

Probably not much comfort, but the guidance here doesn't say people in the vulnerable categories need to self isolate, just strongly observe social distancing. The only people (aside from those with symptoms) who are being advised to self isolate for 12 weeks are those with very severe conditions (chemo, organ transplant etc).

Of course, that doesn't mean you don't want to self isolate, I'm vulnerable myself and lying very low. Just posting the actual guidelines as the information hasn't been very clear imo.

I’m getting more info from front line staff who are friends about what is going on than anywhere else.

Some are inviting colleagues and ex colleagues a place to crash. If I’m able to in a few weeks I will be doing this.

Uni halls of residences are getting used in some areas.

He needs to get himself onto any work related WhatsApp groups.

One of mine is currently volunteering. I’m in the 12 week category (action plan in place). They were told specifically they cannot stay here if they want to help.

And sorry but if the nhs didn’t care, they wouldn’t be working a whole lot more. They would be complaining and wanting to stick to their contracted hours. People wouldn’t be coming out of retirement. NHS wouldn’t be doing what ever they can at the moment to treat patients, whilst taking the vulnerable into consideration.

It’s not the nhs who doesn’t care. It’s the selfish arseholes who strip the shelf’s. It’s the utter cunts who are mugging nhs staff for hand gel. These are the types of people who don’t care.

All the help they can get is out there. They are just
Too bloody busy working to read it. Too busy working to talk about it. And too knackered when they go home they are just wanting food and sleep

As university halls of residence empty out I wonder if they will be used for important key workers like your husband to stay in.

I have signed up to re-join the NMC register and will help out as long as my current employers will keep my current job open for me. However I have a vulnerable high risk severely asthmatic dh so would absolutely need somewhere to stay away from my family ad somewhere to wash uniform etc.

Gin, uni halls etc are already an option. Frontline staff will have all this information available to them.

The abuse key staff are getting, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of their accommodation solutions don't get released.

Baby, talk to your old colleagues. You know yourself when the shit hits the fan, and it often does, they stick together to try and avert a crisis. When public transport has stopped, there's always been a bed somewhere. Big accidents that the public never really hear about and you guys get called in on your days off.

It's the medical people, emergency services and public transport friends I have who I am listening to. They seem to be the only ones who know what is happening, and potential possibilities. They have been acting for weeks, not waiting until this week for the next update from government.

aha I know it's not all like that. Every profession has people for whatever reason don't want to get involved. And that should be fine, even at the moment.

Unfortunately, we cannot grind to a halt. That would destroy way too much. Life for the most has to keep on running, and jobs still need to be done. It's for everyone's benefit. As long as there is no discrimination, and contracts are adhered to as much as possible, it needs to happen.

And please, remember when this is all over, everything you see front line doing, the things they have been doing over the past couple of weeks, is down to them. They've been following their procedures for these types of situations and following what WHO has said, as well as respected colleauges.