If I have symptoms can dh still go out for exercise/food?

[BreathlessCommotion]

Firstly, please be nice. I feel bloody awful, hard to breathe, everything hurts etc. Please don't call me stupid or selfish.

Secondly I need the actual advice/rules, not the MN opinion.

I have symptoms - cough, difficulty breathing, aching, exhausted, temp. So I am isolating in one bedroom. I have dh and 2 dc. And a dog. Are they still allowed to go out for one walk a day, obviously making sure social distancing (easy as never see anyone where we dog walk).

I thought they could (based on a friend who had to do it a few weeks ago). But then thought maybe I'd read different and now in confused.

Regardless of anything that is written, I can't believe anyone with symptoms of Covid 9 would go out exercising in public. I'm gobsmacked that anyone would do this.

The thing is "symptoms" vary a lot. Our situation was that a child had a raised temperature at about 8pm one night, had Calpol and went to bed. Slept well, was fine next day and no symptoms since. No other members of household developed symptoms.

We dutifully self-isolated for 2 weeks, as per guidance, but the guidance at that time said exercise was allowed. None of us had symptoms and we exercised at a distance from others.

That is a bit different from someone with a constant cough, a fever and breathlessness going out to exercise. Not maybe in terms of how infectious you are, but in terms of how "gob-smacking" this action is considered by others.

• @LangClegsInSpace so are you saying the self-isolation advice was that exercise outside was okay, as recently as 7th April?

The issue to with covid is symptoms go, you think you are fine and then they come back again. The virus itself has long gone, it's simply your bodies response to it, but this happens for some way past the 7 day cut off

It's not even asas clear as "the virus has long gone". There seems to be some evidence that it can persist in the body, at least for a week or two, then reemerge.

Yes it was LittleCabbage. The advice was changed on 9 April, but this has not been communicated other than updating the webpages.

I agree @LittleCabbage I think a one day temp for a child is different to temp cough and breathlessness so there does have to be some distinction now I think otherwise people could be self isolating all the time

For us we had that plus back/lung pain and tightness so it was an easy choice not to go out

I'm glad I can now prove that advice was only changed v recently, as have been out for walks and been seen (at a distance) by people who would have known we were self-isolating at the time.

I would hate people I know to think I didn't care about following the restrictions, because I really do care!

Same here LittleCabbage except that dd and I (both with no symptoms) went out yesterday and today (so after the guidelines had changed), but I genuinely didn't know about the change before coming on Mumsnet!

Good lord this is an absolute shambles.

Unclear guidance that has been changed multiple times with no traceability and with no notification.

I also think the sequential self-isolation diagram in the leaflet is nonsensical.

This poor communication is outrageous. No wonder no-one knows what they are “allowed” to do. We need an investigative journalist on this, but the only ones we have left don’t get listened to.

Pretty fed up about this too, as we checked and double-checked the advice when we self-isolated on 16 March for two weeks because our son had a cough. DH and I went for walks, keeping our distance from other people, and told them we were allowed to do this if they asked. Now i feel they will think we were being careless.

Why was this change not publicized?

It's disappointing that people knowingly went out with symptoms, this is why we try to treat everyone as infectious, because you just don't know who decided they don't care about others. Mind you, in the past I've seen people take a child they think is coming down with chickenpox to a playgroup, heard people happily say they've sent a child with a temperature to school dosed on Calpol etc... Different views on whether it matters if you make others ill or not.

Yes the guidance on going out for exercise if you're caring for someone with symptoms has definitely changed since last week. I had checked then, as dd had some symptoms, and the NHS guidance, plus BBC website definitely said you could go out for exercise. And, the gp I spoke to also said it was ok (for us, not for dd).

Now I only discover from reading this thread that the guidance has changed - how confusing and inconsistent.

There are snuffle rugs you can get for dogs. I got my 14 Yr old dog one as he is missing his 5 x daily sniffing adventures. You hide toys or treats in them.

He's like a puppy again.

Sorry, that wasn't helpful!

It's disappointing that people knowingly went out with symptoms.

At the time, they weren’t doing anything against NHS guidelines if they kept 2m away from people.

@PurpleDaisies - no, most of them have not followed the guidelines as they have been clear for weeks that infected people aren't supposed to be out, the guidance only changed for uninfected people in the household and was clearly announced because I saw it in the daily briefing. Quite apart from which, what is wrong with anyone using a bit of common sense that if you have all those symptoms you are clearly infectious and therefore shouldn't be a selfish twat risking other people's lives?

@Mrex you need to look at some of the older threads with screen shots. Before the 9th of April, the guidance aid it was fine to leave the house for exercise. Castigating people for adhering to what the NHS said was allowed is just wrong.

So we only self isolate if we've recently returned from China or Northern Italy and have a new continuous cough and a fever, plus call 111? No, that's right, advice changed. We've been told continually that advice will continue to change. The reason is that initially most people had other infections not covid-19, so rules were more relaxed while case levels were low and the NHS wasn't yet overwhelmed. Now there are posters pointing at out of date text that clearly said at the time only uninfected members of the household could exercise outside as an excuse for why THEY can exercise outside NOW despite having symptoms and despite the NHS being incredibly busy with so many cases. They know fine well it's wrong, but think they're "special".

Why are you so hysterical MRex? The evidence is most people are following the guidance. I have been trying to keep up to date and I missed that change (I'm actually ill with likely c19 so a bit muddled).

Why not just assume the best of people? Lots of people make genuine errors everyday. Especially during a time of constantly changing advice and policy? Of course some people are purposely ignoring, but they are the minority.

Of course not @MRex.

If people are quoting old advice, they need to be directed to the latest advice.

You seem like one of those people who enjoys making up their own rules on top of what the government has said we need to do. I bet your curtains are twitching.

Definitely not.

Wrong thread!

You asked for help in understanding the situation before doing anything risky, that's good. Other posters have not done the same, they've tried to justify their actions even after it's been clearly pointed out where they went wrong. I think they're selfish twats, that isn't "hysterical" it's a judgement based on their actions.