Went for a small walk ... and came into contact with another person

[ocdhelpcovid19]

Still panicking. Went for a very short walk yesterday in the fields behind our house . Very rural .

Lo and bloody behold a cyclist came past . Cycled past us within 4 feet of us . Said hello as he passed . He wasnt facing us and still cycling and had a helmet on .

I can’t stop picturing the virus cells leaving his mouth and entering mine through the air . I’ve googled and it says you only have to breathe the same air to catch the virus . I’m checking my temperature regularly but I’m now thinking I’ve got two weeks until find out if I’m going to die aren’t I .

Same with Tesco delivery man last week . He was at least a metre and a half back though . But I’m so dreadfully worried .

Im v high risk so we aren't going out in case. Also leaving deliveries a while and workibg out how to cleant hem.

Do you have issues with anxiety?

Do you have mental health issues? Health anxiety?

Perhaps you should stay inside.

Maybe you infected him

I don’t know how high risk I am . I’m never leaving the house again in case that happens again .

Are you being serious? I still get on the bus to go shopping etc surrounded by others I don’t see how these things can be totally avoided

It’s spread by droplets. Unless he coughed, sneezed or spat in your face you really are absolutely fine. The virus can’t just fly around you without some force ie sneeze.
Don’t panic

Yes mental health, health anxiety and various others going on

Stay home 🙄

I am now but my crisis team said I should go for a short walk . We live surrounded by fields for 15 miles with only a handful of close neighbours , we never see other people usually

People were really annoying me today, my usual completely empty field where I always walk my dogs was full of people! They kept walking into my 2meter space and were in large groups, fuming!
I saw more people today than I normally do.

I’m praying for rain, people are stupid.

I’d say it’s vanishingly unlikely. General consensus is (or was - advice may have changed) you need to be in a room
With someone for approx 15 mins to be at risk although there’s also a risk of touching infected surfaces etc.

But as someone who also suffers anxiety and ocd I would try to avoid seeking reassurance too much OP- as I’m sure you know it makes things worse in the long run.

You'll be fine OP. As babytum said, the virus needs to be "expelled" from the body by a sneeze or cough.

I'd say the chances of any virus particles leaving his mouth and entering yours would be very, very slim - he wasn't that close, he was cycling so any particles would have been briskly blown away on the air anyway, and if he was cycling it seems unlikely that he was still sick or contagious with an illness that makes you short of breath.

Any live particles would have been extremely sparsely distributed, so if a random few DID make contact with your nose or mouth, remember it still has to make it past your own immune system to make you even slightly sick, and your body is pretty effective at blasting attacking viruses upon arrival.

And finally, even if you caught it - statistically speaking, unless you are in one of the vulnerable groups, you are extremely likely to recover after a mild to moderate flu-like illness.

I am not a medical person but I am a lifetime emetophobe, and a doctor friend reassured me like this whenever I was panicking about norovirus. I know it's easy to say but try not to worry - it's your anxiety talking.

My DH is still working in an office of 100+ people; I'm going into school on Monday to look after other people's children. 😏

I think you need to stay in for our own well-being. This sounds like extremely high levels of anxiety. Lots of people are needed to still going out to work at the moment, we are not on lockdown yet so you will see people outside. Do you have a support worker you can call?

Incredibly unlikely op

Please don’t worry. I’m very anxious too so I’m staying at home

Sorry I meant your well being, not our!

Incidentally I'm aware that my comments are not medically accurate and this is feeding the OPs anxiety issues, but I've been there and sometimes a bit of bland reassurance is a comfort.

On another note I’m amazed about the amount of people coughing all over the place whilst out, you’re suppose to stay in if you have a cough I thought?!

OP, I wasn't negating your anxiety (I have it too ☹️) it's just how different we all see the world at the moment.

No support worker no . If can’t calm it down in next hour or so will ring helpline . Definitely not leaving the house . Tesco due again and zero idea how to handle that .

Thank you , I appreciate it , trying to calm down

I promise you won’t have caught it. Plus you live in the countryside. There was a BBC documentary a while ago where people downloaded an app and some were infected. They tracked their phones and needed to be in close contact for a several minutes at least to pass it on. Otherwise it’s a cough or sneeze very close by. The other factor is from surfaces - I think I caught it (not tested) from touch, potentially clearing tableware after a meal (homeless shelter) or escalator/stair handrails on the tube.

If you aren’t high risk you aren’t likely to be very poorly, although possible. I’ve had worse flu by far, just my lungs are very sore and tight and I feel a bit tired, weak and achey.

I’m more worried about passing it to others. We went out in the country and tried to avoid people. It was like a reverse zombie game, us infected trying to avoid the healthy.

You are fine. You weren't in close contact,you were in open air and it was only a brief hello.

As for deliveries,check with Tesco . Some supermarkets will deliver to door and ring you they arrived if you let them know you're self isolating.

It's not transmitted by breathing the same air, it's transmitted by droplets. The chance of contracting it in the open air from a 4 foot distance is almost nil, unless he literally sneezed in your face as he passed.