to wonder why you need to isolate from your own household

[ACupOfTeaSolvesEverything]

Just that really. If I come down with symptoms surely my DH and DS are inevitably already infected? We have a small house and have spent most of our waking hours together in the same small living area for the last few weeks. My son is always all over me, sitting on me, cuddles etc. I sleep with my DH. Advice is that if you get symptoms you should isolate from others on your household. Why? Not being an arse just wondering how this helps when we spend all our time in very close proximity.

I think part of it is to reduce the chances of both adults being sick at the same time when there are children to look after.

If it's progress in your household is staggered that would at least be a bonus. Hard with a small child, I know. Probably impossible. But your dh should try.

I think it’s to do with viral load

Viral dose may make a difference to severity, so minimising the amount someone gets from you even if you can't prevent transmission completely might lead to their having it less severely.

I had no idea about viral load until this pandemic. I thought if you caught something you either had it or you didn't.I had no idea the higher the dose of virus you get the sicker you can be, potentially.

It's why medics are at such high risk if they're coming into contact with infected people all day. If their PPE isn't effective, then they're exposed to multiple infectious people up close and can get a huge dose of the virus.

To be clear I’m feeling fine and don’t have symptoms. Just planning ahead.

Viral load and ensuring both adts dont have it at the same time.

I'm on day 6 of illness (not sure what it is) so haven't seen kids. Si in my bedroom. Husband leaves stuff at door. Even my cats are banned!

How does it ensure both adults have it at the same time if we’re told there is a 14 day incubation period before symptoms show?
Viral load makes sense just had a read about that.

Both adults don’t have it at the same time. Typo sorry.

Because you don't know that you will definitely have infected the others in the household already so it reduces the chance of transmission. Once you're coughing all over the place then the chance of transmission is much higher.

Difficult if you’re a single parent! I think I had it, very mildly, and now DS12 has similar, DD no symptoms.

Another situation that assumes all families have two adults. i guess we single parents will just have to soldier on

Viral load, I can’t remember where I read about it but it was a legitimate source. She was explaining that catching it directly from someone who was ill could make you have more serve symptoms than for example, catching it off a contaminated carrier bag.

Some people need to isolate when they don't have symptons just because underlying health conditions mean they are highly likely to die if they get it. I know someone who has to stay in a room away from the rest of his household. He can't go outside at all. I'd be going crazy it I were him.

RuffleCrow no ones assuming anything, it’s relevant to those people in that situation. If you’re a single parent then you do what you can-wear a face mask and gloves, use a separate bathroom if you can. We’re all ‘soldering on’ in various ways!

I'm sure if I have it that there will be a crossover period when we do have it together.

I have been wondering about how lone parents are meant to cope. I have a good friend with 3 kids and I have thought about her lots during this and checking on her.

Those on the frontline are exposed to a heavy viral load for obvious reasons.

It's not a given that family members will have caught it already so isolating within one room safeguards the possibility that the others are still healthy. DP had it (well, we're pretty sure he did) and isolated in spare room for 7 days. Me and our 3DCs didn't get symptoms and we kept far away from him. Perhaps we did have it but incredibly mildly, but I don't believe we did and DP isolating away from us helped protect us.

That's really interesting about viral load (every day a school day eh?!)
I had symptoms (though I'm certain it wasn't Covid) and we did the obligatory isolation from the world but not each other, on the same basis as the OP says.
Thankfully DH and DS seems unaffected so it's not caused any problems, but interesting to know for the future.

@RuffleCrow I was just thinking the same. I love threads like this that assume we all have a partner or a spare bedroom or bathroom to isolate or we all have masks lying around 🙄

I was already worried how I would look after Dd when I catch it but now people have mentioned the viral load I’m now terrified I’m going to pass it onto her and make her really poorly. Thanks for that!

Yes, what Nerd says.
My DH has had it, but he isolated and we didn't catch it (or had it so mildly we didn't notice). It's not a foregone conclusion. We're lucky though- two bathrooms makes it a lot easier, another example of coronavirus being easier to manage if you are privileged.
I thank fuck we didn't both go down with it at the same time as he was completely debilitated.

In an early press briefing Chris Whitty said that if one person in a household catches it it is "highly likely" that the rest will. It stuck with me at the time.

However, I've read various accounts here and elsewhere where that hasn't been the case (hard to tell though as without a test we can't confirm CV - but the cases I read about seemed to tick all the symptoms).

Dr Sarah Jarvis explained it on Jeremy Vine radio show on Friday. It’s actually quite interesting in that one of you may make antibodies and only have mild symptoms however when the virus passes on it gets stronger and the next person may get a much stronger version. I’ve probabley explained that wrong but it’s something like that.

A lady rang in whose husband was disabled and she had cancelled his Carers but the doctor said he’d be safer catching the virus from a carer rather than his wife.

Viral load - the same phenomenon that causes the second child in a household to get chicken pox to (generally) have more severe symptoms

You only need to keep away from other members of your household if they are vulnerable. That’s what the guidance says.